Legacy Of The Capital
by XxKonspiracyxX
Summary: Everybody knows that innocence is extinct in the wasteland - or is it? The lone wanderer is tasked with enduring the brutality of the wasteland, her best friend Charon by her side as she does. The vault girl grows in her travels, becoming determined rather than scared, foolhardy rather than tactful, and fierce rather than friendly.
1. The Lonely Wanderer

October 26, 2277

* * *

Again.

A restless night...

"Wake up! Come on... you've GOT to wake up!" Amata's voice rang.

She sat upright in bed, attempting to stare dazily into Amata, but suddenly she was nowhere to be seen... her small, air conditioned bedroom, with the metal walls and the Grognak poster hanging crookedly overhead... was gone. Instead, she found herself crouching in the Metro Tunnel again, fresh out of the vault... hunched behind a trash can, hiding desperately from the riddling, ear-splitting gunshots flying amok all around her... her heart hammered... no... no, no no no... please... I can't... I can't handle this...

Sandra shot bolt upright, glimpsing around frantically and trying to figure out where she was. The scent hit her like a bag of bricks. Yes... the smell of flesh and rot, the familiar scent of Underworld. She'd paid for a room for the night so that she and Charon could, for once, actually sleep on a couple of comfortable old mattresses. Her black, gothic tank top was sticking to her athletic torso in some places, indicating that her body was coated in sweat, and her heart was still pounding uncomfortably.

It'd only been a couple of weeks since she finally earned the money to purchase Charon's contract, and ever since, Sandra was finally able to venture the wasteland somewhat safely. She knew since the first day traveling the Capitol by herself, she wouldn't be able to continue the journey on her own; she'd almost died more times than she could count. Now, traveling with Charon the ghoul, who served as a magnificent bodyguard, Sandra felt much more comfortable traveling. Charon wasn't the most social individual... in fact, he rarely spoke unless Sandra spoke to him first... but he was the closest thing to a friend she'd obtained thus far, and despite him only being in her company because she owned his contract, Sandra was overwhelmingly relieved to have armed and combat-ready company now.

"Mistress." His raspy voice spoke, breaking through her thoughts.

Sandra, sitting in her rented bed and halfway wrapped in a thick, musty blue blanket, glanced up.

Charon marched into the room and crossed his arms, examining her distantly. He was wearing the sunglasses she'd gotten for him, but she suspected that he only wore them because she'd asked him to once a few days back, and he always seemed to take his orders seriously. He'd even been wearing the sunglasses at night time.

"Is there anything that you require of me at the moment?" Charon asked.

Sandra let out a long, shaky breath. "No. No, I'm... fine."

"I didn't ask if you were fine. I asked if you needed anything." Charon growled. "Breakfast... water."

"No." Sandra said more forwardly. Charon was very blunt, and often needed very straightforward orders, which was something Sandra was still getting used to. "I'll buy us both something to eat when we head out today. Don't worry about it."

Charon let out a muffled grumble, then made his way to the nearby desk and sank into the chair. He began fidgeting with his combat shotgun, examining it and presumably trying to determine whether or not it required any repairs.

Sandra hadn't realized that her eyes were lingering on him. Her life had become incredibly lonely ever since she was driven out of Vault 101 almost a month ago. She was still in pursuit of her runaway father, and she wouldn't be able to get to him without finding this Three Dog dj. Gob gave her a tip back in Megaton indicating that her father was headed to Galaxy News Radio, and Sandra, in all her 19-year-old impulsiveness and wit, ended up getting lost and nearly killed three times now. So, after assisting Reilly's Rangers escape from the hospital filled with mutants (and barely getting away with her own life in the process) Sandra was rewarded, and she was finally able to purchase that old contract from Ahzrukhal that'd been on her mind ever since her first visit to Underworld. Something about that tall, intimidating, quiet ghoul always standing in the corner of the bar seemed to captivate her attention, so silent, so distant... what could have been on his mind all the time? Why didn't he ever talk to anyone...?

She'd never forget the day she finally got the money that Ahzrukhal demanded for the contract. She knew she wasn't right for it, but she was overjoyed to buy herself a friend, even though she didn't believe in slavery or the ownership of someone else's person.

Sandra slowly removed the thin, dangling red bangs from her pale face, her shining blue eyes still resting on Charon across the room. Her hair was short and shoulder length, and it shone a deep, bloodred crimson in the proper lighting. She didn't have any armor at the moment, as she couldn't afford it; the closest thing to armor she owned was the armored vault suit Moria had fashioned out of her old vault outfit. And after dressing herself in the wasteland-ready vault suit, Sandra draped her backpack over her shoulders, double checked her 44 magnum, and approached Charon, who was still sitting quietly at the desk.

"Ready to head out?" She asked him.

Charon glared up at her, cradling his shotgun. "If you are, Mistress."

"You don't have to call me that." Sandra said. "I told you... you can just call me by my name."

"And that's fine for you, Mistress, but I was raised not to defy my contractual obligations for any reason whatsoever. Referring to my contractual employer as an equal falls under that category. I'm obliged to refer to you as my Mistress." Charon explained almost grumpily. "I'm sorry if that's not pleasing to you."

"So... you're defying me in order not to defy me?" Sandra said, smirking. "That's... weird."

"I'm doing what I've always done. That's all." Charon replied.

"You don't have to act the way you used to... I'm not..." Sandra began, unable to specify exactly what she meant. "I'm not..."

Charon stood from his seat and strapped on his own camo-colored backpack. He held his shotgun loosely by his side as he watched her and waited for her to finish; he was easily a foot taller than her, if not more.

"I'm not... I'm not into this 'contractual obligation' stuff. I don't believe in it." Sandra told him. "I just want you to call me Sandra."

"Mistress." Charon responded. "I'm sorry. I'm not at the liberty to defy my contract, regardless of your beliefs regarding it."

Sandra sighed. "Okay... one step at a time, I guess... whaddoya want for breakfast?"

Charon blinked at her from behind his sunglasses. "Whatever you wish me to have."

"No, Charon, what do YOU like? What do YOU want? What's your favorite food?" Sandra pestered him. "Whatever it is, I'll buy it."

Charon exhaled. "Very well... rrngh... steak."

"Steak? What kind?"

"Any kind you like, Mis-"

"WHAT kind?!"

"Brahmin steak dammit!" Charon snarled irritably, then quickly composed himself. "Urrrgh... I... apologize."

"Don't apologize. I like it when you show how you feel." Sandra said, smiling at him. "Come on!"

Sandra gave him a friendly tug on the arm and gestured for him to follow her out of the room. She purchased two brahmin steaks, ignoring their costly nature entirely, as well as two ice cold Nukacolas. They hardly had the money to get by, but they wouldn't be living without quality, she'd see to that. After their meal, Sandra wandered into the Capitol Wasteland again, wide-eyed and marveling at the wonderous post-apocalyptic outside world that she once thought she'd never have the privilege to lay eyes upon, Charon following along silently and seriously along the way.


	2. Galaxy News Ambush

"Charon!"

Sandra darted up two large chunks of debris, then climbed her way atop a massive pile of rocks and overlooked as much of the inner city as she could see. It was about ten in the morning, and the sunlight's glare over the Capitol was oddly gorgeous.

"Oh for..." Charon mumbled to himself irritably. "Mistress... I wouldn't advise you be up there, or you might-"

Chk

"Oh shi-"

THMP

Charon looked away for a split second. "... fall."

Sandra had toppled off the edge of the mound of rubble, but she landed safely on her side, with no injuries other than a slight twinge in the elbow she'd landed on. She reached her feet, dusting herself off and peering up the street wanderingly.

"Oh!" Sandra exclaimed, fixing her gaze on an interesting area ahead, the remains of a shambled building, complete with makeshift pathways and bridges extending from one platform to another. "Looks like somebody's made something out of that place... I wonder who lives there."

She sprinted towards the intriguing place.

Charon sighed. _This damn kid is gonna be the death of me._

He kicked up his step, quickly tailing after the lone wanderer as she became dangerously close to the new area. Just when Sandra looked away, Charon caught a glint of movement out of the corner of his eye...

"Mistr-"

BANG BANG BANG

"I'LL WEAR YOUR BONES, AROUND MY NECK!"

The sudden shouting and gunfire startled Sandra so badly, she ducked for cover behind a cylindrical fallout shelter nearby, narrowly concealing herself behind it and bashing her knees on the concrete when she'd hit the ground. She slammed a hand on the opening mechanism numerous times, and when the door to the tiny shelter finally slid open, she leaped inside and held herself against the metal wall, her heart thrashing and her breath rapid.

The gunshots continued to echo outside, as well as the barely comprehensible shouts of the super mutants.

Charon advanced; his use of the combat shotgun was always something to behold. He obliterated the first super mutant with no difficulty, then swiftly stepped out of the line of fire for the second, raised his gun, and fired again. The second super mutant's head erupted into a mess of bone and gore, and its huge body hit the ground like a giant sack of potatoes.

Hearing the return fire outside, a streak of fear ran through Sandra.

 _Charon!_

Sandra's handgun was held at the ready now. She slipped outside, and when she met eyes with the final super mutant, her finger hammered on the trigger. The gun's recoil jolted her wrist backwards as she fired, and she didn't stop until the revolver had emptied itself. The super mutant fell due to numerous shots; Sandra's 44 rounds, as well as an endless flow of 5.56 rounds fired from elsewhere.

When the super mutants were dead, Sandra glimpsed around until she located Charon standing yards away, thankfully unharmed. And, just across the jagged pathways, Sandra spotted a few heavily armored individuals carrying assault rifles, all of them eyeing her rather intently.

Sandra blinked at them. She gave Charon a curious look, then strolled up to the armored strangers.

One of them removed its helmet, revealing the face of a rather pretty young blonde woman.

"Look... I don't know who you are, but you shouldn't be here." She said shortly. "This isn't the place for an outsider to just... blunder in."

"Uh-huh. Who are you?" Sandra asked, ignoring the girl's attitude.

"I'm Sarah Lyons, of the Lyon's Pride. We're clearing out the super mutant infestation to secure Galaxy News Radio." Sarah explained. "And you...?"

"Just... trying to get to the radio place." Sandra told her. "Um..."

"Alright, you can tag along. Just keep your head down, and try not to do anything... stupid." Sarah said, then turned away and began barking orders at her comrades.

Sandra faced Charon and waved for him to follow.

Charon, arms folded and expression grim, stepped towards her. The two of them tailed at the back of the Brotherhood group.

"Mistress. If I may speak freely..." Charon said, stealing small glances at the environment as they walked.

"Of course. You don't have to ask." Sandra responded simply.

"This place is not safe." Charon told her. "Storming into a super mutant infestation is completely st-"

He stopped and sighed, then went on. "It's... unwise. Completely unwise."

"So? We have to get to the radio station." Sandra replied as she quickened her pace.

Charon's reddish ghoulified face formed into a scowl.

Today would be the day, Sandra knew. Her blood filled with a static-like anxiousness as she marched along, filling with hope and excitement. Today would be the day she'd get whatever information she needed to find her father... she might just see him again...

The Brotherhood members were rallying at the end of the alleyway, muttering to one another and scoping out the area ahead as they determined what their plan of action would be. Sandra cradled her 44, blinking and watching them ominously. In her partially armored vault outfit, she didn't fit in with this crowd of well trained and heavily armored individuals at all; but it felt nice to be tailing professionals, at least.

The Lyon's Pride stormed in, and when the super mutants revealed themselves, they eliminated all the muties without breaking a sweat. Sandra simply strolled along behind them. She and Charon didn't have to lift a finger now.

"Reddin. Cover my ass!" One of them yelled to their initiate member, who obliged and fired off more rounds than what was necessary at the nearest mutant.

Sandra and Charon followed them until they made their way through another broken down building. They gathered at the end of the place, and across the way, Galaxy News Radio was finally in sight. It was surrounded with at least five more super mutants.

The Brotherhood flooded out of the building and began their assault again, gunshots ringing through the air. Sandra emerged, and this time, she decided to join in the fun. She fired off two rounds, nailing two of the muties one after the other. When the mutants fell, everyone stood in the clearing and looked at one another.

"Yeah!" Reddin cheered, holding down the trigger of her assault rifle and firing into the air.

"Cut that out-you're wasting ammo!" Her mentor scolded.

"Aw come on. We just kicked their asses." Reddin replied. "I don't see why we can't... wait... d'you hear that?"

All of them glanced around. There was a low, distant rumbling somewhere off in the city.

Sarah Lyons began pointing in different directions, ordering her people into their positions. Reddin charged towards a large junk wall before receiving her orders, gun held high and ready and waiting to kill whatever might show up. The tremors became thicker. The ground shook every few seconds, almost as though a gigantic beast was stomping through the Capitol...

Sandra looked between the other Brotherhood members and the lone initiate, separated from all of them. Reddin's mentor called out to her.

"Reddin! Get out of there!"

Reddin looked over her shoulder, unable to hear them clearly.

Sandra, feeling suddenly panicked, darted towards Reddin. She was in danger... whatever it was, it was coming her way... she had to get the initiate out of dodge... tackle her... grab her... anything... get her out of there... somehow... somehow...!

"Mis-"

BAAAAAAAAANG

The junk wall came apart in a great explosion. Reddin was obliterated, and Sandra went flying...

A towering behemoth mutant charged into the scene, crackling the concrete underneath its monstrous body as it swung its enormous club around, hoping to squish the humans below. The Brotherhood attacked immediately, and Charon began firing off 12 gauge rounds.

The monster zeroed in on Sarah, making a forceful swing and sending her soaring through the air. The club make a loud, echoing CLANK when it met with her Brotherhood armor. And if not for that power armor, the blow might have killed her...

Charon caught sight of Sandra, who was lying crookedly in front of the broken fountain yards away from him. She stumbled to her feet, dazed and disoriented, then marched forward and prepared to join the fight. She was completely oblivious to whatever injuries she might have had; the behemoth was the object of everyone's frantic attention.

The behemoth took a step too close to Charon, crunching the ground only a foot away from where he stood. Sandra appeared by Charon's side, then unloaded her revolver into the beast's leg. When the gun had emptied, the behemoth became enraged by the pain in its leg; it delivered a rough kick, knocking Sandra into Charon. They both ascended through the air, flew over the fountain, and landed harshly and awkwardly on the pavement sprawled over one another.

"Uuurgh... you... idiot." Charon grumbled as he tried to sit upright with Sandra lying on top of him. "You just irritated the goddamn thing."

"It almost crushed you!" Sandra shot back angrily, attempting to lever herself off of Charon and failing. Her balance was attempting to abandon her now; everything had become incredibly rapid and hazy, almost dream like.

"You're making my job really difficult, Mistress." Charon exhaled. "Don't blunder in, goddammit... just let me handle it."

"I don't want you to do everything!"

"I don't CARE what you want!" Charon stood in one swift movement and tightened the grip on his shotgun. "My only purpose is combat and that's what I live by. You don't like it, buy yourself another bodyguard."

Together, Charon and the Brotherhood tore through the gigantic mutant like tissue. When the monster was riddled with bullets, it finally stumbled and began to collapse. It had a long, dramatic fall, landing lopsided atop the old broken fountain.

A silence fell.


	3. Mutants Mutants Everywhere

_The most reckless goddamn thing I've ever seen. Jesus fucking Christ... I can't believe this kid..._

Charon stood behind Sandra as she spoke with Three Dog of Galaxy News Radio. He hadn't realized that his frustrated thoughts were beginning to elevate beyond his control, or that he'd been glaring angrily at Three Dog from over Sandra's shoulder for seemingly no reason. He stood stock still at the top of the stairs, waiting for their conversation to be finished.

"So basically... get this satellite thing, fix the radio signal, and you'll tell me where Dad went?" Sandra clarified, trying to mask her slight disappointment. She'd really set her heart on her journey ending here at the radio station, but her father had already left the place.

"That's right, kid." Three Dog confirmed. He noticed the look of despair on her face. "I'm sorry kid... I wouldn't ask it of ya' if it wasn't of the utmost importance. And tell ya' what... when you get back here, you have a round on me. I'll have a couple of clean beds and cold Nukas waiting for you both. Sound good?"

Sandra nodded and gave him a polite smile, then turned to leave with Charon following closely behind.

They both left the radio station and marched passed the dead behemoth, as well as Sarah Lyons and her followers mourning their dead initiate. Sandra glanced at them sadly, then continued onward. She and Charon strolled through the city silently for about half an hour.

"Mistress." Charon's raspy voice broke the quietness. "We're headed back towards Underworld. There will be more mutants in our path very soon."

"I know." Sandra told him without stopping. "We have to get... to this other museum... here." She fiddled with the map on her Pip-Boy. "We're not far."

"That doesn't solve our problem." Charon grumbled.

They walked in silence for another moment.

"Charon. Can I ask you something?" Sandra said as she peered around, taking in the sights of the inner city.

"You are entitled to ask me anything you like." Charon replied.

"Are you..." It took her a moment to verbalize her thoughts properly. "Are you only looking after me because you _have_ to?"

Charon blinked at her from behind. "I don't understand."

"I mean, is the contract the only thing keeping you around?" Sandra said. "Do you care about being... I dunno... friends, or something?"

Charon continued marching along, his feet crunching a few loose rocks as he did. He didn't answer right away.

"I've never had any use for friends." He told her. "I've had employers. That's it. Nothing else."

"It doesn't have to be that way anymore." Sandra spun around and began to walk backwards, making eye contact with Charon. "I didn't just buy your contract so I'd have someone to take a bullet for me. You and I are both pretty lacking in friends out here. That's why I thought we'd be good together, as a team."

"Whatever you wish." Charon agreed.

"No, I want you to _want_ to. I don't want you to agree just because I _want_ you to." Sandra argued. "You don't have to do what I want just because I want you to."

Charon squinted at her. "What?!"

"I mean... just give me your honest thoughts. What do you want?"

"I want nothing."

"Liar. You're angry underneath that facade, I can see it. You're passionate under there. What do you want?"

"I _want_ to do my job. Nothing else."

"I don't believe you."

"Well suit yourself."

"You want more than that out of life, it's obvious-"

"Shut _UP_ will you?!"

They'd both stopped walking at this point, and they glared into one another heatedly. Sandra let slip a smirk.

"Sorry for speaking out of turn." Charon growled almost forcefully. "Mistress."

"No, don't be sorry. I _want_ you to talk to me like an equal. Now we're getting somewhere."

"For fuck's sake..."

"Come on. Please?"

"I don't-"

BANG

Sandra hit the ground. She rolled around and slipped out her 44, and with the quick movement of her arm, a searing pain spiraled down her shoulder.

She'd been shot. It was only a flesh wound, a grazing upon her unarmored shoulder...

The sound of deep, maniac laughter filled the air. The mutant revealed himself, rifle at the ready-

BANG BANG BANG

Charon unloaded three rounds; the mutant crumbled and hit the cement.

When two more mutants emerged from behind the nearby cars, Charon yanked Sandra to her feet and began pulling her away from the threat. They retreated behind the closest building as the echoing sound of gunshots filled the city.

"Fucking-"

"Don't! You goddamn moron-Let me handle it!"

Sandra was livid. She attempted to free herself from Charon's grasp, her revolver clenched tightly in her hand, but the ghoul had a firm hold on her. He kept her against the wall until she ceased resisting him, then raised his shotgun and began towards the building's edge. Sandra, ignoring the pain in her shoulder and the blood trickling down her sleeve, was close behind him.

Charon fired off a fourth shot the second one of the mutants entered his view; the beast hit the ground, and the second one was close by, gun raised-

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

Sandra hammered her trigger, unleashing almost all of her bullets within seconds. The second mutant went limp and fell to the concrete.

There was a small silence following their victory.

"Well that was fun." Sandra said, wincing as she examined her wound. "Let's go."

"You've got to be... seriously... Mistress... we're still going down this road? Down this... mutant infested fucking road?" Charon complained as Sandra marched off. "You got a goddamn deathwish, or what?"

"There's no other way there. We kill everything in our path and we'll be fine." Sandra responded with far too much confidence. She slipped her hand into her bag and pulled out a few loose medical supplies and began dressing her injury as she walked. "Come on."

Charon crossed his arms and grumbled to himself as he followed his Mistress.

 _Figures I'd end up under the employ of a crazy fucking kid with a deathwish. How the fuck am I supposed to protect her...?_


	4. Those!

It didn't take long to complete the task.

Sandra's injury was healing much quicker than either of them thought it would; it was only a flesh wound, but still, you'd think an injury caused by a bullet would take more of a toll on a vault girl like her. No... she was tougher than she looked. Hell, out here in the wasteland, she didn't have a choice. You endure and press on, or you simply don't make it. Sandra wouldn't be a victim out here. No chance.

"Mistress." Charon growled as he marched behind her, arms crossed and eyes scanning the area. "We installed the satellite at the Memorial hours ago."

"Yeah I know. I was there." Sandra responded nonchalantly.

"My point is, we should have returned to the... the radio place by now." Charon gave their environment a more thorough overlooking. "I don't think we're on the right track anymore. No... we've trailed off completely. Where did that river come from?"

He motioned to the side. Indeed, they were both strolling along a crackled road beside a rather large river that Sandra didn't remember passing by earlier.

"We'll find our way back eventually." Sandra muttered carelessly as she continued onward.

Charon grumbled to himself. _Fucking idiot._

"Hey!"

Something tackled Sandra so hard it nearly knocked the wind out of her.

Charon halted in his step and reached for his pistol, but did not unholster it.

It was a child; he looked like he was maybe ten years old, and his dirt covered face portrayed a rather frantic expression.

His small hands were curled around Sandra's shirt with a death grip.

"Please! Please... those... I can't..." He sputtered.

"Calm down. What's wrong?" Sandra told him with a kind voice she didn't know she possessed.

"Those... THINGS!" The child exhaled. "They attacked the town... lit everything on fire... and I... I can't find my papa... I can't..."

"What things?"

"They... y-you haven't seen them? Really?!"

"Nope. Just blew into town."

"But then... you... please... you're big and strong. Can you go see if they're still alive?" He asked desperately. "M-my family. I can't go back into town, I... they're everywhere. They're setting everything on fire!"

Sandra narrowed her eyes at him. It certainly wasn't raiders, that was for sure... and she knew there were mutant animals in the wasteland. She'd seen molerats and radroaches all over the place. But whatever was out there now was obviously something much more dangerous than anything Sandra had laid eyes upon so far.

"Yeah... alright. Let's go." Sandra agreed. "What's your name?"

"Bryan." The kid answered, wiping his nose with his wrist. "Bryan Wilks."

"Alrighty then. Lead me to your town." Sandra told him.

Bryan lead them both up the road and deeper into the rubble buildings that were the remains of DC's outskirts. After they got within a rock's throw of the town, Bryan stopped abruptly and turned to them.

"I can't... they're everywhere." He said. "I'll... I'll hide in one of those fallout shelters my dad told me about. C-come get me later when you find my dad. Please?"

"I will. I promise." Sandra told him.

Bryan stared at her for a moment, looking conflicted.

"Grown-ups always say that." He said quietly. "And they... never come back."

Sandra gave him a childish, cocky smirk, then knelt and met his level.

"C'mon. Do I look like a grown-up?" She replied genuinely, slapping her hand onto his shoulder. "I'll be back, dude. Promise."

Bryan revealed a faint smile. He then concealed himself inside of one of the metal pod-like shelters along the side of the street, leaving Sandra and Charon alone to explore the town. The place was still smoldering; some of the buildings contained small chunks of still burning fire, and the area smelled of bbq on a grill, but apart from that, nothing stirred.

After looking around for a silent five minutes, Charon finally spoke.

"Mistress. Permission to speak fr-"

"Granted. Stop asking." Sandra responded shortly, her attention still fixated on the eerily quiet buildings.

"We're supposed to be pursuing your father." He said. "We're side-tracking."

"Kid's looking for his father too. I can empathize." Sandra said simply. "We're not side-tracking. We're helping."

Charon gave her an odd look from behind.

Sandra, seeming to sense the glare, turned to him and met his eyes.

"Helping. You understand what _helping_ is, yeah?" Sandra clarified. _"Heeeelping."_

"Don't mock me." Charon sighed. "It just seems like a waste of time to get involved with something that doesn't have anything to do with us."

"Tch. In that case, I never would've bought your contract." Sandra retorted. She turned away and headed deeper into the town.

"So it was pity." Charon concluded while he followed. "Well... Mistress... I don't _need_ your pity."

"It WASN'T pity, you asshole!" Sandra spun around and faced him yet again. "I just wanted a friend!"

They stopped and stared heatedly at one another for a few long seconds.

Charon's crinkled, ghoulish face maintained its grumpy and unwavering expression as he glared down at her.

Sandra's much smoother face was fading scarlet over her pale cheeks, her shining blue eyes flaring and her crimson colored hair shifting its position due to the wind.

As the staring contest continued, Sandra's mind began to race furiously. She didn't notice that Charon's attention was elsewhere now. He looked over her shoulder after capturing a glint of movement down the street.

"Mistress-"

"Shut up. I'm fucking tired of you acting like the world's a goddamn cesspool of SHIT!"

"Mistress-"

"No-You don't GET to act like that anymore. Good things DO happen. I actually DO care about you, it's NOT PITY!"

"Mistress-"

"You're my FUCKING FRIEND, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT! HAVE YOU GOT THAT?! HUH?!"

 _"Mistress!"_

 _"WHAT?!"_

 _"TURN AROUND!"_

Sandra whipped around.

Three massive insects were scurrying down the road, all of them focused intently on Sandra and Charon. They were gigantic fire ants, all bearing a shining amber exoskeleton and six elongated legs that carried them at a brisk pace.

 _Shouldn't be too hard to deal with,_ Sandra thought as she pulled out her 44. _Exoskeleton is nothing compared to a 44 round. Now-_

 _FWOOOOOOOOOOO_

"HOLY _FUCK!"_

Sandra hit the ground onto her back; it was the first instinct to come to her. An enormous wave of fire erupted from the mouth of the nearest fire ant, and the flames were licking the air above her now.

 _These motherfuckers can breathe fire!_

"Shit-SHIT-!"

Sandra rolled onto her side and opened fire, instantly killing the first ant.

The echoing of Charon's shotgun was like music to her ears; the other two ants exploded into mush and shards of hard skin.

When Sandra staggered to her feet, she and Charon both spotted more ants further down the road. At least ten of them, all rushing towards them... and all, presumably, with the ability to exhale streams of fire.

"Holy God." Sandra groaned. "Nope. Not today. Come on."

She grabbed Charon by the wrist and sprinted away.

Sandra headed for the first house to come into sight, but the door was locked. Frustrated and anxious, Sandra planted a solid kick into the door, and it opened so hard the doorknob created a hole in the wooden wall inside. They quickly entered the house and shut the door behind them.

They both remained entirely still and silent, waiting to hear the ants scuttle passed the house.

Charon was the first to turn around, and he patted Sandra's shoulder with the back of his hand, capturing her attention.

Sandra spotted it too.

In the living room of the old building was a fresh corpse lying lopsided on the floor, only feet away from them. The man's body was scorched and covered with burns, and many chunks of his skin had melted onto his clothing, but the face was intact; he looked almost identical to the child, Bryan Wilks.

Sandra covered her mouth, stifling the building urge to vomit.

Charon didn't react. He simply folded his arms and looked at his Mistress.

"This is bullshit." Sandra croaked sickeningly. "Those damn things couldn't have mutated like that on their own. And this town... all these people... they're all dead. I'm gonna find whoever did this and I'm gonna fuck them up."


	5. Holy Sweet Mother Of Ants

"Die!"

Sandra rounded a corner and hammered the trigger twice. The ant crumbled and stopped moving.

"Mistress. Where are we going?" Charon asked.

Sandra and Charon had slipped out the back door of Bryan Wilks' house and found the nearest entrance to the sewers. Now, they were wandering around in the dark and smelly underground tunnels beneath the old burned town. There weren't many ants in the sewers, and the few that were present were scattered and separate from one another. Not at all like the infestation topside... no... this was manageable.

"Wherever these things are coming from. You know what an anthill is?" Sandra answered as she lead him through another dingy tunnel. "Anthills are the things ants build for themselves to live in. They live in an underground maze, basically. And this sewer system... it's basically an anthill for gigantic ants. We'll find the source in here somewhere."

"I see. And why are we looking for the source?" Charon questioned.

"Because I want these things dead. Who the hell's letting a swarm of fire-breathing monsters loose outside? Nah. Screw that. Not havin' it." Sandra ranted. "This is ridiculous. If somebody doesn't stop it now, they're just gonna spread out and burn a bunch of other towns, and... and _mate_ , and whatnot... gross."

"Mistress... I believe you've overlooked something. Ants tend to have a qu-"

"AAUGH!"

The scream didn't come from Sandra; it was a new voice.

The metal door on the right wall opened itself, and the man inside the room jumped with fear when he spotted two armed strangers standing yards away from him. Sandra smirked in amusement.

"Oh... didn't mean to startle you. Haha. Don't get many visitors down here, you know..." The mysterious scientist explained, straightening his glasses. "And er... pardon my asking, but... what are you _doing_ down here?"

Sandra peeked passed the scientist. The room he occupied contained shelves filled with scientific equipment of many varieties, as well as ant glands and bowls of nectar.

She immediately pieced everything together and shot the man a nasty scowl.

"You ASSHOLE!" Sandra grabbed the man by the collar and yanked him around. He released a yelp of fright. "You eggheaded-stupid-retarded-stupid-IDIOT! You realize what you're doing? Huh?! You're experimenting on ants and MAKING THEM BREATHE FIRE? WHY IN HELL'S NAME WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"

"It wasn't my intention!" The scientist cried. "Please don't hurt me - it was all an accident! I'm working on reversing it all!"

"Too late. They're running rampant." Sandra snarled. "They've burned everyone in the town topside and they killed that kid's family."

"K-kid? You mean Bryan?" The scientist said, his eyes widening. "Bryan's still alive?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you." Sandra snapped. "Tell me how to stop it."

"S-stop it?!"

 _"Yes,_ stop it. So that nobody else dies."

"W-well... you see... I can't exactly stop it, or my research will be stunted. I must finish my experiments-"

"Like HELL!" Sandra delivered a one-armed shove, knocking the scientist onto the ground. "Your stupid experiments made giant fire-breathing monsters. SCREW you and your experiments!"

"Listen! Just.. all you have to do is go to the terminal in the hatchery down below. There are next guardians down there, but if you fight passed them, you'll be able to get to my terminal... and..."

"And stop this whole thing? All of it?"

"Yes. I just need the data from my terminal, and I can reverse the process of their mutation. I promise."

The scientist reached his feet and dusted himself off. "My name is Dr. Lesko, by the way, since you didn't ask."

"I don't care." Sandra said bluntly. "Data from the terminal. That's all I need to do, and you can stop it all. Right?"

"Right." Lesko agreed.

Sandra headed down the tunnel. She stopped for a moment, then turned to Lesko again.

"You could have told Bryan you were still alive." She told him. "Everyone else up there is dead because of your ants. You've basically ruined his life."

"I couldn't risk leaving this place. My research is very important and this is the only safe place left in Grayditch!" Lesko explained.

Sandra gave him a condescending nod. "Research. Yeah. Gotcha."

She and Charon marched off and out of earshot.

Sandra found the door leading to the hatchery, placed a hand on the knob, and hesitated. She looked up at Charon with an exhausted face, letting out a long cloud of breath as she did.

"That guy... was a fucking gag." She uttered. "Research is more important than the kid's life... what a douche."

They entered the hatchery and shut the door behind them. The metallic tunnels soon faded into a burrowed ant's nest, separating from the original sewer system and branching into the earth and soil. Sandra and Charon made quick work of the nest guardians; they weren't any tougher than any of the other ants they'd run across in the tunnels. Once they were about halfway through the burrow, Sandra turned to Charon.

"What were you gonna say earlier?" She asked. "Before we ran into Lesko."

"Hmmmn?" Charon rasped as he peered around. "I don't remember."

"You said I overlooked something." Sandra told him, marching onward.

"Overlooked..." Charon pondered, then his gaze drifted off to the right, where a wide gaping opening stood like a gigantic doorway made of dirt... though what lie beyond it was a thousand times more astounding. "... something."

"Come on." Sandra waved for him to catch up as she continued into the burrow, but Charon's eyes were locked on the monstrous creature in the opening.

When he didn't follow her, she whirled around to see what was keeping him.

"Mistress... I believe I was going to say..." Charon said, slowly reaching for his pistol as the endless monster zeroed in on him. "That... ants tend to have... a queen."


	6. Goddamn Grayditch

"No... way."

There it sat, snug and menacing within the center of the nest, its overweight body undulating disgustingly and its shining black eyes focused on the ghoulified man and the pale young girl standing in its home.

Sandra's pistol was held at the ready, but Charon very cautiously raised a hand, gesturing for her to stay back. His eyes were still focused on the ant queen, his own pistol grasped tightly in the palm of his right hand, though he suspected it may not be enough to hold off this beast. What he really needed was his shotgun, but if he went to reach for it... the monster might get startled too soon...

"Charon..." Sandra whispered, silently pleading for him to get out of dodge. He was standing directly in the line of fire.

After the tense seconds of anxiousness, the ant queen let out a shrill shriek, then released a stream from its mouth; but it wasn't fire. The beast was spitting a strange glob of greenish acid, and the putrid liquid hit Charon squarely in the torso. He flew backward and hit the rocky wall rather harshly.

"Oh no-" Sandra fired off three shots before she knew what she was doing. "-you-fucking-DON'T!"

Two of the bullets whizzed into the queen's face. The enormous ant stopped crawling towards Charon and rounded on Sandra.

Sandra froze for a moment. Charon was down. She couldn't get hit at any cost... not until this thing was out of commission.

When the second wad of acid flew at her, Sandra swiftly maneuvered behind the side of the dirt hill. The acid clumped onto the earth, then Sandra poked out and shot off her last two rounds.

With four bullets lodged into her brain now and with one of her antennas severed, the queen began to frenzy. It looked as though it was trying to pursue them, but it couldn't see or function properly anymore.

Rushed, Sandra stormed forward and planted her foot into the queen's skull. It caved inward, shattering and coating her foot in goo.

Everything fell silent. Her breath began to catch up to her while her brain attempted to process what she'd done.

Then, Sandra darted over to Charon's side and hit her knees. He was nodding out of consciousness and the acid was beginning to eat away at his armor, as well as small portions of his skin. She tried to dab it away but one of Charon's large hands smacked at her.

"Geddoffame." He grumbled. "Don't touch..."

"Shut up." Sandra said as a panic began to brew in her. "Uhm... um..."

Unknowing what else to do, she wiped away all of the acid from the exposed bits of Charon's skin using her arm. There wasn't anything covering her arms, but she didn't have time to care right now. Sandra used her fingers to remove any leftover dots of acid on him, then went to work on his armor.

Charon sat upright, only just realizing that he'd hit his head. The back of his skull was throbbing irritatingly.

Sandra's skin began to tingle. The acid was starting to burn her skin, but she hardly noticed.

Their eyes met.

"You alright?" Sandra asked frantically.

Charon glared at her, his milky blue eyes bleeding into her crystalline ones. She looked scared... concerned, almost. Strange...

"Fine." Charon exhaled hoarsely. "I'm fine. You needn't worry about me."

"Yes I _do_ need to worry, you reckless dingus." Sandra retorted. "Are you _really_ alright? Really?"

"Reckless... you're calling _me_ reckless? Look at your arm." Charon told her.

Though they were both sitting in a dark burrow, Sandra was just able to make out that her skin was turning a deep red in some places.

"What was I supposed to do?! I don't have a wet rag handy for fucking acid accidents."

"My skin's not all that sensitive, if you haven't noticed. Can't say that about you smoothskins though."

"Yeah, just what you need - MORE of your skin peeling off!"

"Will you stop it?! I'm fine."

Sandra stood and yanked Charon to his feet. Somehow or another, they were both no worse for wear.

They made their way out of the burrow and returned to Dr. Lesko in his tiny makeshift lab.

"Oh my heavens, you're covered in goo! Tell me you didn't kill the ant queen!" Lesko exclaimed. "I needed her alive for my research!"

Sandra smirked coldly. "I don't give a good goddamn about your research. They all need to be exterminated, starting with the one laying the eggs."

"I... well... that is..." Lesko stammered. "I just-"

"Save it. You're welcome." Sandra said, then turned and walked away without another word. She and Charon made their way out of the sewers and entered the town of Grayditch again, careful to avoid the areas infested with the few remaining fire ants.

Sandra knocked on the outside of the metal pod, and seconds later, the door slid open and Bryan Wilks was staring up at her expectantly.

"Did you find him? Did you find my papa?" He asked.

Sandra stared down at the child sadly.

Bryan read the answer off of her face.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly.

It made a sensation of uneasiness brew in the pit of her stomach to deliver the terrible news to the child. The boy's home was destroyed and all of his friends and family were gone. What was he supposed to do now...?

"Come with me." Sandra said without thinking.

Charon shot her a look from behind.

"Come with us." She corrected. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry your dad's dead, but I don't wanna leave you here alone. I'll find you a home."

"Really?" Bryan sighed breathlessly. "I... thanks. I just... I dunno. I wanna cry, but... I can't. I'm tired of crying."

"I know how you feel..." Sandra replied honestly. The day she left Vault 101, she could barely make it down the hill and head for Megaton due to her vision being entirely distorted by tears. Thoughts of her father and flashbacks of her own vault community betraying her kept her crying for days before she finally began to adjust to the hostilities of the wasteland. "We can stick together out here and I'll teach you whatever I can. Alright?"

"Cool." Bryan attempted a smile. "You're pretty cool for a grown-up."

"I ain't a grown-up." Sandra said, smacking the kid's shoulder. "Come on. I think the road beside that river leads back toward Megaton... we'll go there and take it easy for a few days."

"Mistress." Charon interjected. "You're following your father's trail. If we side-track now, we're going to lose him."

"Where ever he's going, it's not like he's gonna keep moving forever. He obviously has a destination and once he reaches it, he's not going anywhere." Sandra replied. "He has some home out here and we'll find it eventually. We have a kid with us... and frankly I'd like to sleep in a bed. Let's get the hell out of goddamn Grayditch."


	7. The Story Of Megaton

"Rivet City?"

Sandra leaned back in her chair, upturning her third iced Nukacola and downing it in three gigantic gulps.

"Yeah, that's where my aunt lives. That's the only place I can think of..." Bryan replied. "That's the only place I have family."

Charon was upstairs inside of Sandra's Megaton home, and she was faintly able to hear him tinkering with something on her work bench. She was sitting at her kitchen table and ingesting her daily doses of caffeine, and Bryan was sitting across from her with a half-full box of potato crisps.

"Well, screw that. You can stay here. This is your home now." Sandra replied. "Unless you want me to take you to your aunt."

"I really miss her..." Bryan sighed, looking down and seeming conflicted. "But..."

"Take your time, kiddo. You don't have to decide right away. It's not like I have any idea where Rivet City is anyhow. It'd take me time to find the place." Sandra explained. "I have a few extra caps from all that loot in the super-duper mart. You wanna go to the saloon?"

"The place where that ghoul is?" Bryan asked, attempting to mask his uneasiness.

"His name is Gob. He's one of my best friends... trust me, he's a total sweetheart." Sandra told the kid. "He can't help the way he looks."

"Yeah..." Bryan said half heartedly. Then, he leaned closer to Sandra and began speaking in a hushed tone. "Charon scares me."

Sandra nearly choked on her fourth Nuka. Quickly stifling her laughter, she gathered herself and spoke.

"He's a grumpy bastard ain't he?" She said. "No... he acts like that because he's had a rough life. But he's been looking after me since the day we met. I couldn't survive out there without him. He acts mean, but he's a really good person underneath."

"Really?" Bryan blinked. "He seems like..."

"I know." Sandra understood right away. Charon seemed like a rather distant individual. But nowadays, Sandra liked to think she knew him on some close level, even if Charon himself hadn't yet realized it. "Hey... wanna hear something cool?"

"What?"

"About Charon." Sandra smirked, then lowered her voice even more. "He shot his old employer because the guy was an evil bastard. He ran drugs, exploited people, and he even tried to hire me to kill his business competition. Charon hated him."

"He killed him?" Bryan asked fearfully.

Sandra shook her head. "You're missing the point - Charon killed him because he was hurting people constantly. Charon was the good guy."

Bryan looked down in thought. "He doesn't really talk to me..."

"He'll get used to you." Sandra assured. "He's not really a kid person, but he'll get over himself."

There was a moment of silence.

"By the way..." Sandra said, leaning on the table. "You want me to buy you a gun?"

Bryan simply stared at her. "What?"

"You didn't fight at all when we were in the super-duper mart. I understand why you ran, we were overrun with raiders.. but... you need to learn to protect yourself a bit." Sandra went on. "I'll get you something strong. Maybe a 357 magnum... something I can teach you to use."

"But I..." Bryan stuttered doubtfully. "I dunno how to..."

"I'll teach you." Sandra said. "I'm still learning too. You grew up out here... I grew up in a vault. If I can do it, you can. Hands down."

Bryan rested his chin on his hand and sighed. He was wearing a small, fitted leather jacket that Sandra had found in the super-duper mart. His light brown hair was a little less messy than it had been two days ago when they'd met, and his hazel eyes were calmer than before too. Their fridge was stocked with a fresh supply of junk foods and Nukacolas that they'd looted. The super-duper mart was perhaps her most well-paying pit stop yet, and it seemed to be worth the raider trouble they'd endured.

"If you came out of a vault, then how did you get this house?" Bryan asked.

Sandra thought back. She hadn't been wandering the Capitol Wasteland for very long, but it felt like an eternity had passed her by since her absconding of Vault 101. So, she began telling Bryan the story of her very first venture into the wasteland.

The day of her escape was like a faded, distant dream anymore... but after a moment of thought, she was able to remember the first time she entered the gates of Megaton, with nothing but an oversized vault suit and a borrowed 10 millimeter pistol, her pale face tear stained, her crimson hair askew, and her body trembling. When the sheriff and mayor, Lucas Simms, had set his gaze on her, he took a second glance only to realize that something was definitely wrong with her. The vault suit was the first thing he noticed, and her state of shock was the second.

"Ain't seen one of those vault suits in waaaay too long." Lucas said in an attempt to sound casual. He examined the look on the girl's face and frowned. "I don't know what you've been through and I'm not gonna ask. Just... make yourself at home. You're safe here. And as long as you don't start nothin' with my people, then we won't start nothin' with you. Alright?"

"Message received." Sandra said vacantly, giving the man a loose salute.

He nodded at her, then turned and strolled into town.

Sandra glumly waltzed through Megaton, avoiding eye contact with any of the towners and glimpsing around to find a place to rest. On top of one of the gigantic and dangerous-looking metal structures, she saw what appeared to be a saloon hovering above the megaton bomb in the heart of the town.

The inside of the saloon was strangely refreshing, despite the subtle rotting smell and the cigarette smoke inhabiting the air. Behind the bar, a man who looked very much like a living corpse was hammering on the top of a radio, while an attractive ginger-haired woman in a low cut shirt stood with her arms crossed and watched. A few other people were sitting at the bar or at one of the few tables and enjoying their drinks, and the ghoulish man growled when the radio refused to stop emitting static.

"Errrg... come on, ya' piece of junk. Why... won't... you... _work?"_ The ghoul muttered, smacking the radio again.

"I told you, Gob. The radio works. The Enclave station comes in fine. It's Galaxy News Radio. Their signal's been shit lately." The woman told him, but he paid her no mind.

When the radio continued playing a staticy signal, the ghoul named Gob sighed and gave up on it. He looked up and noticed Sandra sitting tiredly at the bar, her forehead placed in her palms and her expression entirely void of feeling.

"Hey smoothskin, you need something? A drink? Anything?" Gob asked her.

Sandra peered up at him.

Gob noticed that the girl's eyes were watery.

"Gimme a sec to think, please. Thank you." Sandra told him in a soft voice, then laid her head in her folded arms.

Gob squinted at her. "Huh. Now that... that's a change."

"What's a change?" Sandra moaned, wishing dearly that she could slip into a sleep and never wake up.

"Most smoothskins in this town give me shit cause I look like a corpse. But you, uh... you're not gonna hit me or anything? Or berate me, or... or anything?"

Sandra rolled her head to the side and gave Gob a peculiar sideways stare. "No. Hadn't planned on it."

"Well... good to know there are some worthwhile people here, then." Gob said. His face crinkled into a kind smile. "Listen... Moriarty'd have my head if he caught me selling at a discount, but... for you, I'll risk it. What can I getcha?"

Sandra felt a soft, warm sensation spread throughout her body as Gob talked to her. After experiencing the worst day of her life, she was sure that her life was over, that she wouldn't want to continue after the disappearance of her father, after her vault comrades shooting at her... but now... it was strange... now, everything suddenly seemed okay.

The two of them conversed with one another for a bit, and after a little while, Sandra found herself feeling loads better. Everything was still weighing on her, but now at least, she had someone on the outside that she could call a friend.

A middle-aged Irish man appeared behind Gob and whacked the ghoul on the back of the head.

"Oi, I ain't payin' ya' to get chatty with the consumers ya' sack o' bones. Get back to work." Moriarty ordered, and Gob looked down and shuffled off without another word.

Moriarty turned and stared at Sandra over the bar. He gave her an empty, business-like smile. "An' what can I get for ya' this fine morning, lassy?"

Sandra shot him a scowl. "Nothing. I'll be going."

She glimpsed at Gob from afar, then stood from her stool and headed for the door. Gob had already tipped her off about the whereabouts of her missing father. She didn't need anything from Moriarty now.

Just when she was about to push the door open, Sandra caught a small movement out of the corner of her eye.

A suited stranger was sitting in the corner of the place. His face was concealed beneath a stylish fedora and a pair of sunglasses, though following his trail of vision made Sandra think that he was looking directly at her.

He was waving at her, motioning for her to approach him.

Sighing, Sandra strolled over to the stranger.

"And look at you..." The man said in a smooth, unsettling voice. He stared up at Sandra from his seat, giving her a sleek, creepy smile. "A new face... that beautiful, new face. Oh... you're perfect."

"What happened then? Who was he?" Bryan interrupted Sandra's story, bringing her back to reality.

Sandra smiled in a strange way.

"His name was Mr. Burke." She informed him. "Just keep listening... it gets so much better."


	8. Just Another Day In Apocalyptic Paradise

"Very pleased to make your aquaintance. I... am Mr. Burke."

"Uh-huh..." Sandra responded blankly.

"I can tell by that... vault suit... that you're definitely not native to this cesspool of radiation that these people are calling a town." Mr. Burke said quietly, giving her a slow examining up and down. "And that... that makes you very valuable."

"Does it?" Sandra said, not understanding this man's drift at all.

"Of _course_ it does, my dear. You see... you have no ties to this place. No connection to its people. No reason to cling to this place... and well... if this town were to, oh, I don't know... disappear? Who would care? Certainly not you, or I." Mr. Burke explained. "I have in my possession a fusion pulse charge. The bomb in the center of town isn't inactive, my dear. It just needs a little... motivation."

Sandra listened intently. She didn't like where this conversation was going, but she masked her emotion best she could.

"Why would you want to destroy the town?" She whispered, peeking around to make sure nobody was listening.

"No, no. I'm simply the recruiter, sweetheart. _You_ get to have all the fun." Mr Burke told her. "I represent certain... interests... that wish to have this town eliminated. It's a rather nasty eyesore on the rest of the wasteland."

"It's not an eyesore. It's amazing." Sandra replied truthfully. "These people built this place themselves. All these buildings in a circular formation all centered around that bomb? All these people getting by with almost nothing? I think that's amazing... it's anything _but_ an eyesore."

Mr. Burke stared silently at her for a few seconds.

"And you're wrong. I _do_ live here." Sandra continued, her voice strengthening as she began to get carried away. "You blow this place up and you're blowing me up with it - you really wanna do that? You wanna kill me for no good reason?"

Mr. Burke opened his mouth to respond, but no words came to him right away.

Gob was peering over the edge of the bar. He tried to eavesdrop, but he was only able to catch a few loose words.

"I... well, you... you certainly are something new." Mr. Burke said. "I must admit... I've never met a woman like you before. No... I certainly wouldn't want to blow you to pieces. That would be a terrible waste."

"Blow her to pieces, eh?" A third voice chimed in.

Burke and Sandra both spotted Lucas Simms standing in the saloon's doorway, assault rifle at hand and face scrunched in anger.

"The bomb - You're trying to blow it up! Have you lost your goddamn mind?" Lucas snarled at Burke.

Sandra tip-toed away from them both.

"Oh... sheriff. I believe you must have heard me wrong. This is merely a... misunderstanding." Mr. Burke replied without bothering to stand from his chair.

"Get up. I'm placing you under arrest. At least until I figure out what the hell's going on around here." Lucas ordered, shooting a quick look at Sandra.

Just when Lucas took his eyes off of Burke, the suited man had flown up from his seat, flashing a sleek silenced 10 millimeter pistol. He fired off two shots, and the bullets pierced the sheriff's torso. Lucas groaned and hit the metal floor with a loud, echoing THNNNNK.

Everyone froze in shock, and all of their eyes were on Burke.

Sandra bolted forward and planted a solid fist into the suited man's face; Burke dropped his pistol and hit the wall, and Sandra delivered a few more punches before she began to tire herself out. The vault girl's hand coiled around the collar of Mr. Burke's suit, hoisting him upright and holding him firmly against the rickedy wall. His glasses were crooked and his hat had fallen off, and his cheek was already starting to bruise.

He stared at her quietly and waited for her to finish the job.

Sandra glared heatedly into the man, teeth ground together and eyes burning a firey blue. She was positively furious. How dare he shoot the fucking sheriff in cold blood!

"Go on." Burke urged, smirking while a trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth. "Do it, you beautiful killer. Do it. I'd be pleased to die by your hand."

 _"Shut up!"_ Sandra made a swift jerking motion and slammed his back into the wall a second time.

Amata's 10 millimeter was still sitting in the holster on her hip. She could end the man's life easily right now. But something, some unknown thing, was stopping her from doing so. After killing many of Vault 101's security guards, the first thing Sandra did upon her escape was kneel over the rocky formation and vomit. She simply couldn't stomach the idea that she'd killed all those people... and the last thing she wanted to do now was add to that list.

Without thinking, Sandra released Mr. Burke abruptly. He stood upright and stared at her.

"Walk away from me." Sandra ordered. "Before I do something I'll regret."

Mr. Burke's eyes lingered on her for a split second, then he retrieved his hat and marched out of the saloon.

Sandra stood over Lucas' body, hands balled into rock hard fists and her stomach lurching sickeningly yet again.

"Well tha's jus' the last damn thing we needed." Moriarty complained as he entered the clearing. "Gob! Get yer sorry ass o'er here and clean this mess up!"

* * *

"You let him live?" Bryan said when Sandra's story ended. "Why didn't you kill him like Charon did to his employer?"

Sandra's fingers were intertwined while she rested her chin on her hands. She appeared to be deep in thought.

"Because I don't like killing." She told him. "I'm still getting used to it. It gets a little easier every day, thinking I might have to pull the trigger and end another life... but I hate it. I wish the world didn't have to be this way. I wish... I wish we weren't all constantly hurting each other out here."

Bryan watched her sadly.

"Still though... it's not all bad." Sandra added. "I gave Lucas' rifle to his son and I have his duster hanging in my room. The town's people gave me a key to this house and they even gave me a robotic butler. I'm glad the town's people like me, at least."

Charon was sitting on the top of the stairs now, arms folded and remaining silent. He'd been listening to their conversation for about five minutes, and he only caught the last bit of Sandra's story about Mr. Burke.

"Madame?" Wadsworth the robot said as he hovered over to the table. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I've been collecting your mail ever since the day you left. Would you like to review your letters?"

One of the robot's three appendages was holding a small assortment of letters. Sandra took them and examined them closely.

"I get mail? Who the hell am I getting mail from?"

Narrowing her gaze, she made out the address on the upper left corner, which read; **Tenpenny Tower.**

"I don't know anybody from Tenpenny Tower. Hell... I don't even know what Tenpenny Tower is." Sandra said carelessly, tossing the letters aside. "Screw it. Let's go see Gob and have a drink. We should head out tomorrow. We've had plenty of time to rest but we haven't spent much time with Gob. CHARON!"

Charon jumped when Sandra hollered for him. He stood and made his way downstairs.

They all headed for the saloon, and the sunset had faded into a beautiful starry evening. Sandra shoved the doors of the saloon open like she owned the place, grinning at Gob from across the bar and leading her two companions inside.

"Well, lookie what we have here. Usual rum and Nuka?" Gob said to Sandra, who nodded and claimed a seat close to him.

The girl looked less intense than usual; she wasn't wearing any patched or armored clothing and she didn't appear angry or jumpy. Instead, Sandra simply looked happy to be alive, and she was wearing black cargo pants and a sleek gothic tank top.

It was a pleasing sight to Gob.

"You gonna introduce me, kiddo?" Gob said, looking between Charon and Bryan.

"We've met before." Charon interrupted before Sandra could answer. "You used to live in Underworld, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Gob replied. "You... you're the bouncer from the Ninth Circle, aren't you?"

"Not anymore. I bought his contract." Sandra told him proudly. "We found Bryan here living by himself in Grayditch. We've gotta head out in the morning back to Galaxy News Radio so Three-Dog can tell me where the hell Dad went, but we decided to take it easy here for a bit first. We've been through a lot the passed few days."

"Makes sense." Gob commented while he began mixing Sandra's drink. "Want some ice for this, kiddo? I got some out in the cooler-"

 _Thwack._

Moriarty appeared behind Gob and gave him a hard smack on the head. Gob instantly fell silent.

Sandra, Charon, and Bryan all glared at him at once.

"You ain't a party line, sunshine. Now quit actin' chatty. I don't pay ya' to be happy. Serve 'em up and move on to the next consumers, or I'll ship yer' ass back to the rotfest you came from in pieces. 'Ave you got that, ya' worthless meatsack?" Moriarty snapped at Gob, then marched out from behind the bar and stepped outside.

The four of them were silent for a small moment.

"What's wrong with that guy?" Bryan said disdainfully, still staring at the door where Moriarty had vanished. "He's a complete jerk."

"He's a jerk to all of us." Nova, the ginger haired prostitute, told him. She adjusted her bra and leaned on the wall again. "Mostly to Gob, though. Jackass."

Gob said nothing, but continued his work mixing the Nukarum and trying not to let it lose its fizz.

Sandra watched Gob. He seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her at all costs.

Then, a thought occurred to her.

A brilliant thought.

"Gob. Can I rent a room?" Sandra asked.

Gob looked up at her. "Yeah, of course."

Sandra slid ten bottle caps toward him, then stood and departed the bar. She climbed up the stairs where the hotel rooms were, leaving her friends downstairs.

Once she was alone in one of the empty rooms, Sandra locked the door and began rifling through her satchel. She located the thing she was looking for; a stealthboy that she'd found inside of one of the metrostations. She activated the stealthboy, and it covered her entire body with a transparent invisible coating, keeping her mostly invisible to the naked eye like a chameleon.

Sandra carefully climbed out of the window, then crouched on the metal balcony and silently made her way around the building. Moriarty was standing in his usual spot in front of the saloon, his hands resting on the rusty guardrail as he overlooked the town from above. He'd always be standing there, always staring over Megaton quietly, never talking to anyone unless it was about business. He was your typical selfish money-grubber.

 _Not anymore._

Sandra moved like a shadow in the night; the cloak of darkness made her even more impossible to detect. Stealth wasn't her usual forte, but she was giving it her all. This was important. There was no room for failure right now - she absolutely _had_ to succeed.

When she drew dangerously close to Moriarty, she noticed that the guardrail was broken in one place. This was good. This made her job easier.

With a movement containing all of her strength, Sandra shoved the guardrail directly forward; it bent and snapped.

Moriarty let out a wail - Sandra stood and kicked him squarely in the back before he could catch his balance. The man fell over the balcony and descended into the town, his limbs flailing and his throat excreting a loud, echoing scream the whole way. Sandra smiled when she heard the crunching of his bones atop the megaton bomb down below.


	9. Road To Rivet City

Nobody noticed that Moriarty was lying dead on top of the bomb until morning.

Sandra had slipped back into her hotel room that evening, waited for the stealthboy to wear off, then returned to her friends in the bar. She tried her best to cheer Gob up and she managed to get a smile out of him before she, Charon, and Bryan headed back to her house for the night. When she awoke, Charon was downstairs tinkering with his shotgun and Bryan was still snuggled into his sleeping bag. Charon hardly ever slept. She'd been meaning to talk to him about that, but it always slipped her mind...

"Get packed and ready, Charon. We're heading out soon." Sandra said when she thumped down the stairs. "Wake Bryan up and make sure he eats and bathes."

Charon gaped at her.

Sandra vanished out the front door before he could retort.

There was a pause, during which Charon merely glared at the door silently.

"She wants _me_ to... I'm not... I'm not the damn kid's father... rrrngh, goddamnit."

Most of the town's people were huddled around the megaton bomb, and Sandra immediately knew why. She put on her best face of surprise and approached the crowd. Naturally, she headed for the only person in the town that she knew on a first-name basis.

"Oh... hey kid." Gob said when he spotted her. "You're not gonna believe this. They found Moriarty dead on the bomb... the guardrail broke. He just fell to his death..."

"Did he?" Sandra said tonelessly. "Looks like you've been promoted, then."

Gob blinked.

"I mean... _you_ can run the saloon now. Now that he's... out of the way." Sandra explained with a smirk. "We have to go, but I'll come back as soon as I know where my dad went. Good luck."

Sandra scooped Gob into a hug, and he returned it. When they separated, Gob was giving her a rather studying look.

"Kid. Did you..." He uttered, glimpsing over at the mangled remains of Moriarty, which were lying in the radioactive water puddle now.

"You were the first friend I made out here, you know that?" Sandra told him.

"Well... likewise." Gob replied. "But... kid..."

"You made my life a lot easier that day." Sandra whispered. "I just wanted to... return the favor."

With a final smile, Sandra wandered up the hill and out of sight.

After Sandra and her companions left town, Gob made sure not to repeat what she'd said to anyone. As far as anyone else was concerned, Moriarty's death was an accident - and he aimed to keep it that way.

Sandra and Bryan spent the entire day climbing on broken buildings or giant boulders, and the vaultie was sure to teach the boy how to use his new 357 magnum revolver. Bryan was noticeably frightened of the gun; he expressed to Sandra that he didn't want to shoot anyone, but she insisted that it was a skill he needed to learn, whether he wanted to or not. They began by taking pop-shots at boatflies, and Sandra was enjoying herself in shooting down the bugs one after the other.

Bryan made a dark face when he watched the bugs hit the ground and die.

Charon, as usual, was watching them both silently and kept an eye out for danger. The first day he traveled with Sandra, he vaguely recalled their first departure of the inner city; she was insistent on running away because she refused to shoot any of the super mutants or mutantated animals in the area. The girl was a complete weirdo. She seemed to despise the thought of killing anyone or anything, even if it was absolutely necessary to do so. But now, however, Sandra was killing numerous boatflies with no hesitation whatsoever, and he played witness to her doing the same to any unfortunate raiders who happened to cross her path during their travels... something in her was changing... something...

"Charon!" Sandra called, smiling and waving him over. "Come'ere!"

Charon grumbled and marched over to his Mistress. Sandra and Bryan were crouched on a rocky formation on top of a hill, and a few of the boatflies were still buzzing around in the distance.

Charon knelt on the opposite side of Bryan. "Yes?"

"You're better at shooting than I am. Show him how." Sandra instructed, handing the ghoul Bryan's revolver.

Charon took the gun and stared at the boy for a few seconds, then sighed and looked away. _Why's she making me play daddy to the kid? Goddamnit._

"Look here."Charon growled, standing, taking a firm stance, and aligning the small sight on the pistol with a single boatfly. His aim followed the insect as it bobbed through the air. "Aim down the sight and fire. Don't endure the shot, and _don't_ snap your eyes shut at the sound of it. Man up and shoot it rather than just enduring it."

Then, Charon fired off four rapid shots with frighteningly accurate precision. All of the remaining boatflies hit the ground almost simultaneously.

He spun the gun around his finger and handed it to Bryan handle-first.

"Don't let the gun shoot itself. _You_ shoot the damn thing. Understand? Shoot it. Don't endure it." Charon ordered very directly.

Bryan nodded and took his gun. He stared up at Charon quietly; the ghoul was positively towering compared to the child, but now that he was finally talking to him like a human being, he seemed much less scary than before. And not only that, but Charon seemed to understand Bryan's problem immediately; Bryan was afraid to shoot and he wasn't trying his hardest. He had to overcome his fear and use the gun as an extension of himself, rather than just tolerating its power.

His hands were still trembling, but he tried his hardest to keep his eyes open when the earsplitting gunshots would ring through the air. He was shooting at chunks of rubble now, and his aim wasn't terrible - but he found it nearly impossible to keep his eyes open whenever he squeezed the trigger. He anticipated the horrible sound and the recoil, and even though he was getting used to it, it still managed to scare him every single time...

"I had the same problem when I got my first gun." Sandra said, remembering the day she looted her 44 magnum from a dead raider. "Took me forever to get used to the sound and the kick. You'll get used to it."

When they began to run low on ammunition, Sandra called it quits and lead her friends onward.

After a while, Sandra finally found Galaxy News Radio again. Three Dog promptly thanked her for fixing their satellite and was sure to give them all a fresh Nukacolas as thanks, just as he promised. He then informed Sandra that her father had left for Rivet City, which was a large town inside of an old ship down south.

The entire day came and went, and the three wanderers found themselves traveling through another metro tunnel just when a thunderstorm began brewing outside. Sandra heard the rain pummeling on the concrete outside when they finally approached the tunnel's exit at about eleven o'clock pm.

It took the entire day to reach the place, but at long last, upon pushing the fence open, Sandra spotted a metal structure sitting parallel with an enormous boat in the river.

"Rivet City!" Sandra exclaimed. "Hell yeah!"

The vaultie didn't even care that she was getting soaked in the rain; she bolted for the small tower which presumably lead to Rivet City's entrance, and when she reached the top, she noticed an intercom on the nearest pole.

"Stay there while we extend the bridge." A stranger's voice played from the speaker. "Welcome to Rivet City."

With a loud echoing creeeeak, the massive bridge began to swing ever so cautiously towards the metal platform upon which they stood. Sandra stared up at it, looking completely captivated, but then she became distracted when she heard a faint whimper from behind.

A man was sitting crouched beside the stairs, hunched over himself and appearing very distraught. His skin was sickly and discolored, and he looked as though he hadn't eaten in days.

Sandra knelt beside the man. "You okay?"

"Water... I need water." The man begged hoarsely. "Please... please..."

"I..." Sandra said, shaking her head and suddenly feeling guilty. "I don't have any water right now. I'm sorry..."

"Please... if you find some... please..." He coughed. "Please..."

"I'll bring you water as soon as I can. I promise." Sandra told him. She gave him a pat on the back, then stood and rejoined her friends at the platform. The bridge had extended, and Sandra lead Charon and Bryan over the river.

"Hold it right there." One of the armed guards on the ship hollered when Sandra was halfway across the bridge. "What's your business in Rivet City?"

"We're here for the burgers and hookers." Sandra smiled, then groaned when nobody appreciated the joke. "I'm looking for my dad. He came here to see somebody named Doctor Li. That's what Three Dog told me, anyway... and uh... we're standing in the pouring rain. Let us in and give us a place to fucking sleep, pretty fucking please."


	10. Following In His Footsteps

"Really... do you have any vocabulary apart from curse words?" The guard asked.

Sandra blinked humorlessly at him as the rain continued drenching her and her friends to the bone.

"Alright, alright. Come inside, but mind yourself. I'm watching you." The guard threatened, then stepped aside and allowed the three of them to enter the town deck of the ship.

The evening was setting in and the storm was only getting more hellish, but Sandra and her friends quickly sought shelter inside the marketplace of Rivet City. It was incredible; the entire ship had been fashioned into a society, with hotel rooms, a museum, a clinic, a bar, a ship deck for viewing the sights up top, and best of all, the marketplace, containing many different shops and numerous colorful individuals. Sandra, Charon, and Bryan, however, were the only ones in the place who were thoroughly soaked. Everybody quickly guessed that they were outsiders right away; it was obvious that they'd been traveling in the storm.

"My aunt runs the hotel." Bryan said when the three of them found themselves sitting at Gary's Galley and overlooking the menus. "I think it's called... the Weatherly?"

"We'll go by there later." Sandra replied with half interest. "You really wanna see her again, huh?"

"Yeah..." Bryan stared down at his menu and sighed.

Sandra glanced at him.

She'd already grown attached to the child and she wasn't looking forward to letting him go - but from what she had seen of Rivet City already, the place was secluded, large, and heavily guarded, which meant that it was a much safer place for the child than traveling with her.

Bryan was shifting his attention from the menu to two other children who were tossing bits of food at one another at a nearby table. Gary, the owner of the galley, kindly waved at them and asked them to stop.

"We'll get a room at the place and you can decide over night if you wanna stay." Sandra told him. "We'll relax here for a bit and give you time to make up your mind."

"Okay." Bryan agreed.

"Hey!" A young girl's voice chimed in.

A small hand was yanking on Bryan's leather jacket. He turned in his seat to see a girl who appeared to be only a couple years younger than him. She was smiling at him brightly.

"Me and James are gonna play hide-and-seek, but we need one more person." The girl told Bryan. "Wanna play?"

The girl was standing beside a grumpy, cross-armed child who he assumed must have been James.

"Uh... sure." Bryan replied, giving Sandra a look. "I'll uh... meet you at the hotel later, I guess."

"Have fun." Sandra told him with a grin, and she watched the three children disappear from her company.

Now, only she and Charon were sitting at the counter.

"So..." Sandra eyed him. "Wanna go to the bar?"

Charon turned his head to face her. "Whatever you want, Mistress."

"Ugh... I'm asking what YOU want." Sandra grumbled. "You wanna go buy some liquor? Or just beer, or...?"

"I hate beer." Charon exhaled raspily. "Stuff's just piss water... and it doesn't even work."

"Me too." Sandra responded with an almost childish smile forming on her face. "You know... there's something I've been wanting to ask you since the day we met."

"And that is?" Charon asked.

Sandra's grin became devilish.

"Charon... will you have a drinking contest with me?"

Charon blinked at her. He looked as stoic as ever, though Sandra swore she caught a glint of astonishment in his milky eyes.

"You're serious." He uttered.

"As serious as death." Sandra replied.

Then, Charon did something that she'd never seen him do before. He cocked his head and let out a dry, muffled laugh.

Sandra looked stunned. "What? You don't think I can hold my own?"

"19." Charon said, shaking his head and pressing his fingers into his temples. "A 19 year old kid's tryinna' best me at drinkin'... ah hell, I've seen it all now..."

"Get up." Sandra ordered him as she reached her feet. "Let's go to the Muddy Rudder then, tough guy."

They left the marketplace, both of them completely forgetting that they were hungry. But they both knew that liquor worked better on an empty stomach, anyhow. After weaving through the stairways and greeting the people of Rivet City along the way, Sandra finally located the Muddy Rutter, and she and Charon claimed their seats at the bar.

Sandra chose to chase her scotch with ice water. She and Charon swallowed their first six shots with no difficulty.

Around the seventh, however, Sandra was beginning to feel warm and woozy, though she tensed up and hid it best she could. From what she observed of him, Charon didn't seem to be showing any signs of intoxication at all yet.

"You got guts kid, but that ain't enough." Charon said with his charmingly ghoulish voice, his crackled face portraying a smug smirk. "You're gonna drink yourself into a coma, I hope ya' know..."

"Shaddup..." Sandra laughed while she poured her next shot and downed it disdainfully. "Yum! More please. And water. Oh oh oh - and Nuka! Doya' have Nuka?"

The bartender slid a Nukacola across the bar without saying anything. The scent of the carbonated treat hit her face and sent a fuzzy sensation of pleasure throughout her body, thoroughly eliminating the musk of cigarette smoke and whiskey which was rather prominent in the Muddy Rudder.

Something was off, something she couldn't place. Sandra had never felt this sensation before... alcohol had never affected her like it did most other people. She always prided herself for her tolerance of the stuff... but this was new... everything was simpler... the same, but less... complicated... simple, warm, and... and...

"Nice." Sandra breathed aloud.

Charon examined her.

"Kid. Just took my eighth shot. You ready to bail out or what?" He asked.

Sandra didn't hesitate. She poured her next shot and swallowed it, ignoring the disgusted lurch in her stomach. Her body didn't want any more of the poison, but for some reason, _she_ very much did.

Her forethought abandoned her entirely; she poured a ninth shot, drank it, then began pouring a tenth when Charon took the bottle from her.

"Aaaaaall right. You made your point. You smoothskins are so damn stubborn about your fragile little tolerances..." He said, chugging what remained in the bottle and placing it on the counter once he emptied it. "You're done for the night."

"Wait.." Sandra said dazily. "No I... fuck... Doctor Li... I forgot..."

The girl spun in her chair and stood. Her stance swayed and her balance almost failed her, but she managed to regain her footing and crookedly strolled out of the Muddy Rudder. Charon followed her closely behind.

Sandra didn't want Charon to follow - she was weakening. She was losing control of herself, and that wasn't ever meant to happen... and it _surely_ wasn't something meant for anyone else to see... no... she didn't want Charon to see her vulnerable... damn it... why was that scotch so damn strong...? So strong... but... so good... such a good, calming feeling... like it... could stay this way forever...

"Aaaarugh, kid." Charon yanked her arm and pulled her upwards. She blinked up at him, trying to remember when she had started to fall in the first place. They were standing alone in one of the narrow hallways now, and his hand was clamped onto her wrist forcefully. "You fucking lightweight."

"Am not..." Sandra moaned.

Her legs attempted to give out on her again, and Charon wrapped an arm around her.

Sandra lie against Charon's torso now, her head resting on his collar and his arm holding her upright.

"Auugh..." Charon growled. "Alright... you can talk to your Doctor Li tomorrow. We're getting a room so you can sleep it off."

"But I need-"

"Shut it."

"I-"

"Shut. It."

Charon glared sternly into the face of his Mistress, which was only inches away from his own now. Her shining blue eyes peered up at him almost innocently, if innocence really existed, and her crimson hair was going slightly crooked against his leather armor.

Sandra hardly felt Charon scoop her off of her feet; he carried her like an infant through the hallway until he located the Weatherly Hotel. He purchased a room from Vera Weatherly, then ventured a little further down the hallway until he found it.

There was only one bed, but the room was unusually clean. It was quite refreshing compared to what they were used to.

Charon laid the girl on the bed and gently placed the blanket over her body. She'd drifted into a deep sleep after Charon had picked her up. Something about him made her feel safe; safer than she'd ever felt before, even when she lived in that wall-to-wall vault buried miles underground and concealed from the rest of mankind. No... a vault was nothing compared to this. This was a sort of paradise that Vault-Tec couldn't create for anyone. This was friendship... compassion... loyalty...

This was love.


	11. Wandering The Wastes

"Oh my God... it's you."

The woman named Doctor Li said, her eyes widening.

Sandra had slept in; she didn't roll out of bed until nearly one in the afternoon, only to find Bryan curled up in the bed beside her and Charon sitting upright against the wall half awake. She left the hotel room before either of them could notice and found the science lab, and finally, Doctor Li.

"You look so much like him..." Li said. "So you're James' daughter."

"Yeah, and I'm looking for my dad. Where is he?" Sandra replied.

And so, Doctor Li explained that her father had been working on a thing called Project Purity before she was born. Her birth halted all of their work, and her father decided to abscond into a vault in order to ensure his child's safety... until now, anyway. Now, James planed to get Project Purity up and running again, and he had apparently run off to the nearby Memorial where the purifier resided.

"Don't go after him." Doctor Li instructed. "It was foolish of him to go there after all these years anyway. It's infested with super mutants."

Sandra didn't listen, of course. After returning to her hotel room, she found that Charon had slumped over onto the floor, still cross-armed and wearing his serious face, but his eyes were closed and she could have sworn she heard him lightly snoring.

It was refreshing to see him sleep. Charon hardly ever allowed himself to rest.

Sandra was hoping that she'd be the one to wake them both; she had prepared.

After kneeling in front of Charon, she gently waved a small mirelurk cake in front of his face. He inhaled a long breath and caught the scent, then blinked himself awake and gave her a tired, disoriented stare.

"Breakfast?" Sandra grinned, setting the plate on the floor and heading over to Bryan. "Up up UP! Food time!"

Charon and Bryan ate their food and Sandra ingested a few cold Nukacolas.

Afterwards, Sandra finally got up the nerve to ask. "Bryan, have you made up your mind? You staying or going? Because I have to go after my dad as soon as possible."

She was examining her third Nuka, attempting to look as casual as possible as she anticipated his answer.

"I think I have to stay." Bryan replied after a pause.

A stab of disappointment pierced Sandra in the gut.

"Your aunt's next door." She told him. "I hope you like it here. We'll be back after I sort all this out with my dad... we'll visit a lot. I promise."

Bryan gave her a weak smile and reached his feet. He strolled over to her and gave her a tight, warm hug.

It startled Sandra; she hadn't expected him to do that, but she was thankful he did. She returned the embrace and suddenly didn't want to let go.

The boy collected his belongings and left the room, waving at Sandra and Charon, then pulling the door closed.

Charon was still sitting on the floor and licking his fingers. He didn't notice the sad look on Sandra's face, and neither did she.

They both gathered their stuff and headed out of the hotel without talking. They stepped out of the stairwell and onto the deck, approaching the long metal bridge and preparing to leave Rivet City.

"Wait!" Bryan's voice cried out.

Sandra and Charon whirled around.

Bryan was darting up to them, his backpack slumped over one shoulder and his pistol at hand.

"I can't... I can't stay!" He panted. "I can't stay yet, I can't!"

"Why not?" Sandra wondered, trying to mask her happiness.

"Because I... it's not safe anywhere, not even here." Bryan responded. "And I... when something happens again, I... I wanna be stronger. I wanna be able to handle it. I wanna be just like you! Both of you!"

Sandra and Charon exchanged looks.

"I wanna be stronger, and that's not gonna happen in there." Bryan told them, swatting a hand towards the massive boat behind him. "Please? Please?!"

"Like you even have to ask." Sandra answered with a grin. "Welcome aboard."

* * *

The trip to the Memorial was less dangerous than Sandra had expected. There weren't many mutants around, so the three of them made short work of them, and Bryan even managed to kill two of them all by himself. He was noticeably shaken, but he wore an odd maniac smile on his face that reminded Sandra of herself. He would get used to it, just like she did. All was well.

When they finally reached the purifier, Sandra marveled at the machine before noticing the three holodiscs on the computer console. She interted them into her Pip-Boy and listened to each of them very closely; it was the voice of her father, talking about his intentions of finding something called a GECK and fixing Project Purity. The end of the last log stated that he was heading into the wasteland to find Vault 112 to find a scientist who supposedly knew about the Garden Of Eden Creation Kit, the GECK.

It was soothing to hear her father's voice again. Sandra continued staring into her Pip-Boy long after the last recording had stopped playing, wishing it would keep going, wishing that her father would keep speaking to her...

"Come on, guys." She finally told her two companions.

Sandra lead them out of the Memorial and headed for the wasteland away from the city. Being trapped within the walls of rubble was growing tiresome, anyway. She couldn't wait to hit the roads again and get away from the Capitol's center.

There was no telling where Vault 112 was. The trail was cold. And who could she possibly ask? Who would know? And where were the major cities in the wasteland, anyway? How was she supposed to know where to go from here...?

They wandered the wastes for hours before anyone bothered to speak.

"Mistress, where are we going?" Charon asked.

Sandra halted and spun around, glaring up at him from only inches away. Charon stopped walking so abruptly he nearly ran into her.

"Thank you." She said.

"Thank you?" Charon asked.

"Yes. Thank you for not asking my permission to speak." Sandra explained, then turned and began walking again.

"That doesn't answer my question." Charon said as he examined the environment. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to that vault, right? So where is it?" Bryan asked, almost jogging to keep up with Charon's long strides and remain by the ghoul's side.

"I don't know." Sandra muttered irritably. "We'll find it eventually."

A silence fell as they all continued marching through the wasteland, unknowing which direction they were headed or what they'd cross paths with. When the sun began to set, Sandra had become more and more agitated that she didn't know where she was going, and decided it best to seek shelter in the nearby scrapyard until morning. She and her friends had been walking all day, and she figured their muscles were aching just like hers were.

Upon entering the scrapyard, however, Sandra heard gunfire and whipped out her 44. They all walked with their firearms at the ready until they spotted the raiders, all shooting at a single animal.

It was a baby yao guai, and it was rushing the raiders one by one, tearing into their legs and bringing them down with ease. After the tiny bear managed to kill all of its attackers, it turned and bared its teeth at the newcomers.

"Open fire-"

"Wait!" Sandra held up and hand and motioned for Charon to hold his fire.

She then sat on a single knee and slowly waved for the creature to approach her.

The baby yao guai was whimpering, limping due to an injured paw, and Sandra caught a glimmer of reflected light around its neck. The small beast was wearing a collar of some kind. It was somebody's pet.

"Did they get your owner, boy? Did they kill your master?" Sandra asked it.

The mutant bear cub collapsed onto its stomach only a foot away from her, panting and whining. Sandra grasped the collar and gave the shiny tag a thorough examination.

"It says Thrash. Your name's Thrash?" Sandra said kindly. "Your owner thought of a good name for you. Fits you."

Thrash's tongue escaped from between his sharp teeth and began licking Sandra's fingers. Sandra allowed the beast to taste her skin, then gave him a few tender pets on the head. Somehow or another, she'd completely forgotten about her lack of leads to Vault 112 now; all she could think about was this adorable creature sitting before her.


	12. Scrapyard

"Mistress..."

Sandra's gaze was lost in the campfire. Bryan had already drifted to sleep on an old mattress, and Thrash the yao guai was lying tiredly in her lap with a gauze wrapping coiled tightly around his hurt paw.

"This place is not safe." Charon told her. "We shouldn't have made camp in a place inhabited by raiders."

"All the raiders are dead. We just need to sleep, we'll be out of here first thing when the sun comes up." Sandra assured.

Charon didn't say anything. His tall body was hunched over as he sat in the dirt, his sunglasses having been removed and his eyes shining with the dancing of the flames. Sandra simply observed him for a moment.

"You don't have any idea where Vault 112 is, do you?" Sandra wondered.

Charon perked one of his partially intact eyebrows at her. "No, I do not. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I guess it's not normal to have grown up in a vault..." Sandra sighed. "Where _did_ you grow up, anyway?"

At hearing this, Charon's stony expression became even harder than usual. "I don't remember."

"Really?" Sandra asked, sounding astonished. "Was it that long ago?"

"Probably."

"How old are you?"

"Don't know."

"You don't know how old you are...?"

"No."

Sandra stared wanderingly at him. Charon was such a mystery; there was much wisdom and anger in his eyes. He was a compassionate soul underneath all of his defenses, she was sure of it, but circumstances always seemed to fashion him into a killer somehow or another.

Something Ahzrukhal had said played through her mind. _Charon came from an interesting group of individuals. They... well... I guess you could say they brainwashed him._

That was the only thing Sandra knew about his past. Not his family name, not his birthplace, not anyone he ever might have been close to...

She wanted to pry, to ask more, to know every detail about her best friend, but she couldn't be sure that he would handle it well.

There was, however, at least one thing she _did_ feel comfortable asking him right now.

"Charon." Sandra said softly. "How come you almost never sleep?"

Charon leaned back on his arms and met her eyes, seeming to study her rather intensely.

Thrash had rolled onto his back and was now sleeping into the dirt, which allowed Sandra to pull her legs closer and hug them as she waited for Charon's response.

"Well... Mistress... my job is to assist you in combat and defend you all hours of the day. I can't very well do that if we're both asleep at the same time." He explained.

"But you _never_ sleep. We don't sleep in shifts. You just... you just stay up most of the time." Sandra replied. "How can you go with no sleep like that?"

"Because I'm accustomed to it. Ahzrukhal wouldn't have me sleep nights. I was needed to keep an eye on the Ninth Circle during its busy hours." Charon informed. "And I traveled and did his dirty work during the day. So, I simply stayed awake most of the time."

"But how?" Sandra questioned. "The other ghouls in Underworld all had beds - they all slept normally, just like normal people. How is it you stay awake so long?"

"Mistress, please." Charon sighed and looked away. "Just don't."

"But I want to know. I need to know." Sandra pestered on. "Tell me. How?"

"Enough." Charon snapped, scowling at the fire.

"Tell me."

"Mistress..."

" _Tell_ me."

"Mistress, I don't..."

"Please?"

Charon stared into her profoundly. Somehow, she still had that innocent look about her... it almost succeeded in melting his heart... or what was left of it, anyway...

He let out a long, rumbling growl.

"With his help." Charon answered forcefully. "I stayed awake with his help. Ahzrukhal kept me awake with his supply."

Sandra took a moment to piece it together. "You're on _jet?"_

Charon was facing away. He didn't want to look her in the eyes at the moment.

"It's necessary." He responded. "I need to be awake."

"Do you have jet with you now?" Sandra asked him, glimpsing at his backpack. "How have you been getting it?"

"You've been paying me caps, that's how. I purchase the chems whenever we stop in a town somewhere." Charon told her. "My body isn't as fragile as yours is. You needn't worry about it. It's simply-"

"Really? You're taking so much jet it's keeping you awake at all hours of the day, and _you don't think I should worry about it?"_ Sandra scolded. "Well I'm not having it. No more."

Charon glared at her. "What do you mean, no more?"

"I mean I'll get you off of it. I'll wean you off of it." Sandra retorted. "I'm not letting you kill yourself with that shit."

"Mistress, for God's sake-"

"No. No. No!" Sandra spoke so loudly her voice made Bryan turn over in his sleep. "Not. Having it."

Charon's teeth ground together as he stared at her silently. It was baffling to see her explode on him like this; he didn't imagine that she cared so much. It seemed, to him, like a childish thing to holler about... but over the years of ignoring his own health and having nobody else pay any attention to it for him, perhaps he simply forgot that it was a rather important thing that _did_ need looking after. He was a ghoul - his health had seemingly escaped him a long time ago, as well as a lot of his skin.

"Well then. Who's going to look after you while you sleep?" Charon asked. "If you're so goddamn intent on having me sleep, that is."

"Nobody." Sandra shrugged. "Except Thrash. Thrash'll wake us up if anything happens."

"You're not utilizing me properly." Charon said bluntly. "I recognize that I'm your equal in your own eyes, but I am intended for combat - I am meant to be awake and alert, and to kill anything that gets the jump on us. Don't you understand that? Everything ain't a fucking prewar after-school special and I ain't a regular person that needs looking after, so don't bother trying. Have you got that?"

Sandra gazed at him sadly, her oceanic eyes beginning to water.

"No." Her tone crackled when she spoke. "No... because... you're a human being first and a bodyguard second, stupid. That's what being an equal means."

Charon grimaced at her. _Oh God, please don't fucking cry... goddammit..._

"I won't be able to fulfill my contractual obligations if you want me to sleep nights, Mistress. That's all I'm saying." He said in a voice which he intended to sound sincere.

"I don't care." Sandra told him breathlessly. "I don't _care_ about the contract... I _care_ about _you_."

Charon opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Nobody had ever told him that before... how could he respond...?

"Just let me try. Alright?" Sandra said. "Just... just let me try to get you off the stuff. I like seeing you sleep. You deserve to rest for once, you know that...?"

They stared at one another for what felt like hours.

At long last, Charon let out a raspy groan.

"Fine." He said. "Whatever you like, Mistress."

Sandra smiled at him.

"Alright. You haven't taken any tonight, have you?" She said. "Lay on that other mattress and try to get some sleep."

"What, now?" Charon asked, and she nodded.

"Yes, now. Lay down."

"But I-"

"Just do it."

"Mis-"

 _"Do it!"_

Charon huffed at her, then turned and laid his long muscular body across the nearest mattress. He lie on his side with his arms folded and his face scrunched up almost like a pouting child who was sent to bed without supper.

"No." He told her. "I haven't taken any tonight."

"Good. Then sleep." Sandra said happily. "You'll be fine. I promise."

That was a promise Sandra silently vowed to uphold, no matter what.


	13. Tenpenny Tower

"You alright?"

Sandra, Charon, Bryan and Thrash had been walking since morning. When one pm struck, Sandra noticed that Charon looked slightly more lethargic than usual.

"Hmmngh?" Charon grunted.

Sandra looked up at him. They were marching side-by-side, as they often did, and their height difference was especially apparent right now.

"You look tired. Did you get any sleep?"

"Some."

"How much?"

"Not much. But some."

A long cloud of breath escaped from Sandra's lips. After a moment of thought, she determined that he was sleepy due to his lack of stimulants. He was used to having an adrenaline boost in his system - and she had just the perfect fix for that.

Sandra pulled one of the Nukacolas from her bag and handed it to Charon. It wasn't an ordinary Nuka, it was a Nukacola Quantum, with twice the caffeine as a regular Nuka. She adored Nukacola, and she absolutely loved the rush they'd give her and the good mood they'd put her in. Maybe it would do the same for Charon.

Charon somehow popped the cap off of the bottle with one effortless thumb movement, then took three long gulps of the glowing blue soda.

"Holy..." Sandra gasped, holding up a hand and shielding her eyes from the sunlight. "What is _that?"_

They'd all just reached the top of a hill, and in the near distance Sandra spotted a humongous white tower. The building, unlike most prewar structures, was hardly damaged at all. It was the tallest and most pristine building Sandra had ever seen, and it was most certainly the most attention-grabbing thing in the otherwise vacant wasteland ahead.

"Looks like bait to me." Charon grumbled. "That, or it's just an obnoxious 'fuck you' to anybody who can't afford to live there."

"What makes you think anybody pays to live there?" Sandra asked curiously.

"Look at the place, Mistress. It's huge, and it's gotta be damn stable if it survived the war... not to mention the two hundred years of anarchy following it. Whoever's camped out there is cozy and selfish. I'll bet my contract on it." Charon explained.

Sandra made a halfhearted sideways nod in agreement. "Aw'right. Let's check it out."

It took a good half an hour for them to reach the building, and it looked even taller up close. From directly underneath, it almost looked like it could scrape the sky.

Sandra lead her friends up to the main entrance. It was a double-doored gateway and it appeared to be sealed shut, while the rest of the building was surrounded by a nine-foot stone wall. The gate was the only way inside.

Just when Sandra was about to pick the lock, the sound of a ghoulish voice caught her attention; but it wasn't Charon.

To the left of the gate was a rusty intercom, and another leather-armored ghoul was arguing with one of the tower's representatives through it.

"I already told you." A human man's voice erupted from the speaker. "Tenpenny won't allow zombies to live here."

"Who the hell are you calling a zombie?" The ghoul snarled. "Can't you tell the difference between me and a feral? We have caps. Loads of 'em. Just let us in, goddammit."

"No. Zombies. Allowed." The voice carefully replied in a condescending manner. "Now get the fuck away from the gates, before we come out there and remove you ourselves."

"Fine. You can't tell the difference between me and a monster? Then I'll _show_ you the goddamn difference." The ghoul threatened in a menacing, raspy tone. "You'll get yours. _All of you!"_

At that, the ghoul turned and marched away, his hands balled into fists and his blueish face crinkled in anger.

Sandra wanted to go after him, but it probably wouldn't be a smart thing to do. That ghoul looked furious enough to plant a bullet in the first smoothskin that might dare to look him in the eyes.

"Told you." Charon said, crossing his arms and scratching his chin. "Bigots."

"What is this place? Why won't they let ghouls inside?" Sandra mumbled aloud. "Hang on..."

The vaultie strolled up to the intercom and hammered her finger onto the button.

"How many times do I have to tell you?! Get your no good flesh-rotten asses off our goddamn doorstep!" A man's voice exploded from the speaker.

"Is that how you treat all your guests?" Sandra asked casually. "Very charming, asswipe."

"Wha-? Oh no, no no no... just those damn zombies." The man replied in a calmer voice. "Welcome to Tenpenny Tower. What's your business?"

Sandra blinked. _Tenpenny Tower? Wait... I've heard that somewhere before..._

"I'm uh..." She began. "I'm here to see Mr. Tenpenny?"

The man let out a chortling laugh. "That's rich, kid. Hit the road."

"Don't give me that! I... I..." Sandra looked around, almost as though she expected a good excuse to appear in her surroundings somewhere. She very much wanted to enter the tower and get to the bottom of this ghoul business, but how was she supposed to get through the front doors first?

"I... I'm a representative for an independent settlement across the Capitol."

"Oh-hoh really? And what settlement might that be?"

"Megaton."

"Oh yeah? I thought Megaton was supposed to go up in flames. You here to bitch about that, are you?"

Sandra narrowed her eyes at the intercom. _How does he know about that? Unless..._

"Yeah, I don't take kindly to people trying to blow up my town." Sandra retorted. "I just want to talk business with Mr. Tenpenny. I have a town full of angry settlers and I'm pretty sure you don't want a pissed off militia of armed Megatoners coming here and shooting up the place, do you?"

"Now... now hold on. Let's not get rash here. I'm opening the gates, alright? Keep your panties on." The man responded, and seconds later, Sandra heard the gates begin to slide open. "But _you're_ the only one who can come in. Your buddies will have to wait outside."

"I'll be back as soon as possible." Sandra told Charon and Bryan. "Go find us a good camping spot nearby, I'll meet you there. Charon, you still have that walkie-talkie I got you, right?"

Charon pulled the radio-like device off of his belt and gave it a strange look. "Yes. Don't have any idea how to use, it, but..."

"That's alright. You'll hear me if I need to contact you. I'll be back soon." Sandra smiled at them, then turned and marched through the gates of Tenpenny Tower.

Feeling proud of her impulsive lie about Megaton's angry settlers (in reality, the people of Megaton weren't even aware that the bomb was active at all), Sandra strode into the place like it was her long lost home. Her sunglasses reflected the sunlight's glare and she was wearing her leather Tunnelsnakes jacket halfway zipped over top of her gothic tank top and black cargo pants. She looked like a big shot, and she was trying her damnedest to act like one.

The front of the building was guarded by many men in tan combat armor, all of them giving her strange looks.

Sandra pushed the double doors open and stepped inside.

It was remarkable; every corner of the interior was spotless. The entrance was decorated with a long elegant rug, and in the center of the place hung a gigantic chandelier. Many well-dressed men and women were walking around and speaking politely to one another. It was almost too formal for Sandra's tastes, but nevertheless, it was refreshing to enter a place that was well taken care of.

The front counter was manned by one of the combat armored soldiers. He looked up at her expectantly when she approached him.

"Yes?"

"I'm here to see Tenpenny." Sandra said.

"Tch. Yeah right." The man responded, looking her up and down. "What, you his bastard daughter or something?"

Sandra slid Lucas Simm's sheriff badge out of her inner coat pocket and held it upright. "No. I'm a representative of the town he tried to destroy."

"Yeeeah, well, look... I'm pretty sure he doesn't give a good goddamn about your little town. So why don't you just-"

"Megaton." An eerie voice interrupted. "A Megaton representative... and you're about to turn her away? Shame on you, Gustavo."

Sandra felt a strange static-like sensation slither down her spine. She knew that voice...

The man named Gustavo turned in his seat.

Another man wearing a fitted tan suit was approaching him from behind, just after stepping out of the elevator. Part of his face was hidden beneath the rim of his prewar hat, and his eyes stared at Gustavo from behind his dark sunglasses. He allowed a wicked smile to form over his face when he met eyes with the lone wanderer, and Sandra recognized him immediately.

"Forgive Gustavo, my dear. He doesn't recognize your... significance." Mr. Burke told her. "But I, on the other hand, have been anxious to meet you again."


	14. Tenpenny Tower II

"Mr. Burke..." Sandra exhaled.

"In the flesh." Mr. Burke replied smoothly. "Come with me, my dear. _If_ you'd like to discuss business."

"I wanna talk to Mr. Tenpenny."

"That won't do you any good, dear."

"Why not?"

"Because you're talking with Mr. Tenpenny's adviser right now."

"So?"

"So... to put it simply... _I_ am his decision maker." Burke told her. "Whatever you have to discuss, you can discuss with me. Come now... I know a certain protectron that's very skilled at serving mixed drinks."

Sandra grimaced. She didn't like the idea of talking with Mr. Burke about anything important, not after their horrible confrontation back in Megaton all those weeks ago. Still, if he was being truthful and if he was, in fact, Tenpenny's decision maker, then perhaps discussing business with him was the only logical option. Maybe Charon was right. Maybe the leader of this wealthy establishment, Tenpenny, really _was_ just a selfish rich guy with a bloated ego who didn't care about politics or ordinary wastelanders at all. And if that was the case, Burke was the better choice between the two men.

So, Sandra allowed Mr. Burke to lead her down a hallway and into the bar of Tenpenny Tower. They both sat beside one another and the protectron behind the counter, who's name was apparently Shakes, began taking their orders.

Naturally, Sandra ordered her favorite hard alcoholic beverage of all time, the Nukarum.

Mr. Burke made an intrigued face. He'd never heard of Nukarum before and he decided to give it a try.

Sandra swallowed two Nukarum's with no difficulty. Mr. Burke had offered to pay for the drinks and she was taking advantage of it in full. She didn't speak until she was sipping on her third rum, and Burke was watching her with raised eyebrows. It was staggering to watch such a young girl inhale liquor so quickly.

"Megaton is fine, I deactivated the bomb." Sandra said.

"I see. Then why are you here?" Burke wondered.

"I'm trying to find a vault, and I came across this place along the way. But the reason I wanted to talk to Tenpenny was because of the ghouls." Sandra answered. "That ghoul that was standing outside and yelling at the intercom..."

"Ah." Mr. Burke nodded. "That is their leader. His name is Roy Phillips. Stubborn one."

"Why aren't they allowed inside?" Sandra asked, turning her head and meeting the man's gaze.

"Because they're ghouls." Burke replied simply. "When Tenpenny and Gustavo and I first arrived here, we were forced to clear out a mess of ferals. We don't generally welcome those sorts of horrible mutants here. No... this place is meant to be a safe haven away from all that."

"But they aren't feral." Sandra told him. "They're just like regular people. They're harmless."

"Harmless?" Mr. Burke hit a high note that sounded strange coming out of him.

"Yeah, harmless. My best friend is a ghoul." Sandra said straightly. "He wouldn't lay a finger on me."

"Well that may be, but the same can't be said for Roy Phillips. No... and Mr. Tenpenny has a high standard for the people he allows to live here. I'm afraid your ghoul friends don't fit that standard." Mr. Burke explained. "Why is it you're speaking on their behalf, anyway? Have you even spoken two words to these ghouls? Are you _their_ representative as well as Megaton's?"

Sandra pondered on this. Well, she only wanted to help with their situation... she hadn't given it any further thought than that...

Mr. Burke was eyeing her.

"No..." He said softly. "No, don't tell me... you've just adopted their problems on a whim, haven't you? You're trying to _save_ them, for absolutely no reason whatsoever... just like you did for Megaton. I can't for the life of me fathom why you _do_ these things, my dear. Isn't it stressful to work for no pay? To go out of your way, and not even have a single 'thank you' from the people you rescue?"

Sandra shrugged. "Someone has to do it."

"Do they?" Mr. Burke questioned almost genuinely. "Or is that a rule you simply invented?"

"Would it matter if it was?" Sandra responded. "It's still true."

Mr. Burke stared into his half-full Nukarum for a moment. "How interesting..."

"Yeah. Whatever." Sandra mumbled, turning her bottle upwards and chugging the rest of its contents. "Another one please."

"You're going to rot your liver drinking that way." Mr. Burke commented. "That's quite reckless."

"So is blowing up towns." Sandra replied. "One more. Please?"

"Yes, very well. Buy however many you like." Mr. Burke agreed with a slight smile. "Anything to please you."

Sandra powered through her fourth Nukarum. Once she purchased her fifth, she finally began to slow down, as her blood was becoming warm and the room almost looked like it was moving around her...

"Do you know... I've been wondering something, ever since the day we met." Mr. Burke's hand slid over top of Sandra's, his fingers coiling around hers tenderly. "I've been wondering... my dear... have you been receiving my letters?"

Sandra blinked. "You've been sending me mail?"

"Oh yes. I suppose you're not home very often, if you haven't been getting them..." Mr. Burke said. "Ah... but no matter, no matter. I suppose that gives me the opportunity to convey my thoughts to you in person."

A charming grin crawled across his face as he stared into her, his thumb stroking her skin lightly.

Sandra's heart began to pound. _Wait... what was he..._

A small panic forming in the pit of her gut, she drank her fifth Nukarum in four swift gulps and slammed the empty bottle onto the table with her free hand.

"Impressive." Mr. Burke said. "I meant what I said back then... you really _are_ refreshingly different."

Sandra flushed. It was nice to hear so many compliments, but... but... it didn't make sense... and now, now of all times, her brain was refusing to function properly...

 _Have to go. Have to get out of here._

With no forethought available now, Sandra stood from her stool. The ground could have shifted its position, or perhaps, her legs simply decided to stop working... somehow, the bar was blurring around her and she suddenly felt as though she'd fallen asleep...

"There, there. Easy does it." Mr. Burke was on his feet now, his arms embracing Sandra and holding her upright. She lie against him uselessly, wanting to break away from his grasp, but she couldn't find the strength. Her body would not respond to her at all.

"I thought you might have been a little inexperienced with the drink, but you've breached your limitations much more drastically than I imagined." Mr. Burke said with a glint of amusement in his tone. "I believe I'll have to... you know... cut you off. Come on. Off we go."

Burke draped one of Sandra's arms around his shoulders and began escorting her out of the bar. It was irritating to know that Mr. Burke was supporting her almost completely by himself now; she wouldn't have been able to walk if he hadn't been. How did she become so pathetic...?

They stepped into the elevator and rode to the highest floor.

Mr. Burke took Sandra through the hallways of the wealthiest suites. Once they arrived at his room, he cautiously pulled his key from his suit pocket, opened the door, entered the room, then shut the door with one of his feet. He gently released Sandra in front of his bed, allowing her to collapse onto his blankets and stare dazily up at the ceiling.

"I'm quite fond of these down blankets." Mr. Burke informed her as he sank onto the bed beside her. "Comfortable, aren't they?"

Sandra continued glaring emptily upwards without having found any words yet.

Mr. Burke sat a foot away, looking down at her with an unreadable expression. "Now, I thought you came to discuss business."

"I did..." Sandra breathed. "I want the ghouls to live here..."

Mr. Burke sighed. "And that... that, I don't understand. I can't comprehend why you're so intent on helping them."

Sandra turned her head slightly, her ominous blue eyes resting on him.

"Because that's what I do." She replied. "That's _all_ I do."

Mr. Burke let out another long breath, but it wasn't out of annoyance or frustration. He simply couldn't comprehend that somebody like her existed in the world at all. He knew that she was as tough as nails - he'd received quite a beating from her the day he killed Lucas Simms. But somehow or another, the girl managed to maintain that innocent, helpful disposition and she seemed to be driven entirely by the idea of helping others. How could anyone survive the wasteland with an ideology like that? This girl was completely impossible...

"Amazing." He let the word slip out before he could stop himself. He found himself on his knees, and before he knew it, he was hunched over the girl, almost completely mounting her. He peered down at her face, which was now only inches away from his own, his sunglasses attempting to slide off of his nose. "You are... so... so very alien to me..."

Mr. Burke lie on top of her now, his fingers easefully removing a few of her loose bangs from her face. He leaned closer, and as Sandra had fearfully anticipated, he planted a delicate, comfy kiss on her soft red lips.

When he separated from her, he felt one of her hands grasp him firmly by the wrist.

"Don't..." Sandra said weakly. "Please... just... don't."

Mr. Burke stared at her for a moment.

"Of course, my dear." He replied in a voice too kind for him. "I wouldn't dream of doing anything against your will."

He placed a hand on her face, her cheek feeling soft and warm to the touch.

"You're a gem... an oddity." Burke said. "You're impossible."

Sandra managed a smirk. "You wouldn't like that about me if you didn't value good in people..."

Mr. Burke seemed to think about this for a few seconds.

Then, he laid on his side next to her, resting his head on one of his hands and making a profound face.

"Who do you think you are, walking into my life and making me reflect upon myself?" Mr. Burke said with a faint smile forming. "Ah... oh, alright... very well, sweetheart. I'll speak to Tenpenny about the ghouls, and I'd like you to accompany me when I do. After you sleep off your indulgences, of course."

He delivered a final stroke of affection along her cheek, sliding two fingers down her face timidly, then stood and left the room as quietly as he could.

Sandra fell into a deep sleep before she could think twice.


	15. Diplomacy

"Is she coming back?"

Bryan asked as he sat across the campfire from Charon. They were camped within sight of Tenpenny Tower, and it most of the night had come and gone. The sun would rise any minute now; Bryan had just woken up. Charon hadn't slept.

"I don't know. I'm assuming so." Charon replied emptily. He didn't like being alone with the kid, but it wasn't because he had anything against Bryan. He simply didn't know how to talk to a child. "They ain't gonna let us into the tower. They don't like ghouls. All we can do is wait for her to come back."

Despite saying this, Charon vaguely remembered seeing the guards outside of the tower and wondered if he could take them all down by himself. He could fight his way into the tower if he had to. He'd get to kill a lot of ghoul-hating bigots and secure the safety of his mistress at the same time. In his eyes, it was a win-win. But he suspected that Sandra would see it differently. For some reason, she always tried to take the diplomatic route to problem solving. That wasn't something he was accustomed to. He liked to let his shotgun do the talking.

The flames flickered in front of him. Charon held out his hands and tried to warm them. He still had the shakes from lowering his doses of jet. The withdrawal was getting to him, and if Sandra didn't return soon, he might be tempted to sneak a hit before she could find out...

He didn't have time. His mistress would return to him sooner than he thought.

Sandra awoke in a daze inside of Mr. Burke's suite. She wandered around the tower, and eventually, she ran into Mr. Burke in one of the hallways.

"My dear, you've slept well, haven't you? I can tell." Burke patted her frazzled hairs down in order to make it less messy. Sandra had been walking around with bedhead. "Are you ready to speak to Tenpenny? I've already given him a general synopsis of your standing. He would like to hear from you directly now."

"Yup. Thanks for letting me borrow your bed. Sorry I was hogging your room all night." Sandra smiled. It was strange, but she didn't seem to hate Mr. Burke so much anymore. He was still a creepy, shady bastard who was undoubtedly capable of doing wicked things when he wanted to, but so far, he hadn't shown any hostility towards her at all.

"My pleasure." Mr. Burke kissed her hand. "Come, I'll escort you to his balcony. He likes the view. Watching over the wasteland is the closest thing to entertainment he has, I'm afraid. The same can be said for the rest of us, truthfully..."

When they reached the balcony, an old man in a red suit, who Sandra assumed must have been Mr. Tenpenny, looked up at her expectantly. Sandra tried not to get distracted by the magnificent view. The sun was rising over the Capitol; it looked strangely beautiful, despite it being a post apocalyptic wasteland.

"Mr. Tenpenny, this is Sandra. The Megaton representative... and the spokesperson for the ghouls." Mr. Burke said, cupping his hands together. "And, if you've listened to your radio lately, sir, you will have heard the latest news about Vault 101... I believe the second person to escape the vault was referred to as the _lone wanderer,_ or something of the like. The lone wanderer was responsible for repairing the satellite and fighting through a horde of supermutants to do so, and is also known to free captured victims from the mutants on occasion. Sandra, here, _is_ that lone wanderer. I believe she is a fully capable negotiator. She has proven to be very competent."

"Ah, yes, yes." Tenpeny nodded. "My goodness, Burke, I've never heard you speak so highly of someone before. Has someone caught a love bug? Ha!"

Burke frowned at the joke.

Sandra glimpsed between the two men awkwardly.

"Well, anyway, Sandra... very nice to meet you, by the way... what do you think of my tower? It's rather nice, isn't it?" Tenpenny said.

"Uh... sure." Sandra replied. _Are you really bragging about this tower, old man? You and your friends just found it and moved in. It's not impressive. It's squatting._

"Well, I'm ready to hear your argument." Tenpenny said. "I'm listening, young lady. What's your proposal?"

Sandra gulped. Her proposal? What the hell did that mean? Was she supposed to have a speech prepared? Was this a game of politics?

"Let them live here." Sandra began saying the first things that came to her mind - then, she remembered something she once said to her teacher in class back when she lived in the vault. She'd been arguing about why everyone was supposed to be _born in the vault and die in the vault,_ questioning the rules and giving the teacher reasons as to why leaving the vault would be a better choice, and if she remembered correctly, her argument had been pretty solid. "Do you really think isolating yourself and shoving everyone else away will keep you and your people alive for long? What happens when your food and water supplies get compromised, and you don't have any other imports or opportunities for trade as a back-up? What happens when your guards get outnumbered by another community that you didn't bother to form an alliance with? There are a lot more survivors out there than there are Tenpenny Tower residents, and ghouls are probably the toughest out of all of them. They've faced a lot of discrimination, violence, and illnesses. They know how to survive. Your pampered residents don't. You'll need their friendship and their protection just as much as they need a home. Living in a hole... I mean, in a tower... living in a tower separated from the rest of the wasteland is just like closing yourself in a tomb and waiting until you die slowly. You need people to trade with. You need protection. You need friends. You need them. And _they_ need a home. Sounds like a fair trade to me."

Tenpenny's mouth was hanging open. Burke's arms were crossed, and he was giving Sandra an impressed stare from behind his sunglasses.

"Well, you bring up a few good points, young lady... but we have a standard to uphold here." Mr. Tenpenny said.

"Do you? _Really?_ Pretending to be part of some exclusive VIP club is more important than your survival? And _their_ survival?" Sandra challenged him. "Is that really the argument you're going with? You _do_ know how backwards that is, don't you?"

Tenpenny gaped at her.

Mr. Burke, who would usually forcibly discard anyone who dared show Tenpenny any disrespect, merely watched silently with a smooth smirk forming on his face.

"Well I never!" Tenpenny gasped. "I can't believe you think you can waltz into my home and tell me how to run my tower!"

"If it helps, sir." Mr. Burke interjected, holding up a hand. "Gustavo and I had to clear out the ferals by ourselves when we first arrived here. If you recall, sir... we almost weren't successful. We were swarmed, and we nearly died. This area does have a rather thick infestation of feral ghouls, and they don't seem to target the civil ghouls. I believe the ghouls have much more knowledge about the ferals than we do, too. The ferals could become a large problem for us if we don't make a change soon. The civil ghouls could prove valuable to us in that respect."

A glint of fear shimmered in Tenpenny's eyes. Sandra guessed that he must have been remembering his encounter with the ferals.

"Oh, well, now... we can't have that." Tenpenny shook his head and looked away. "Oh alright, I suppose we have no choice. But I daresay, you'll have a rather hard time convincing most of my residents to go along with this little plan. And, I suppose, it would be fun to hunt them down and punish them if they misbehaved..."

"I believe they'll listen to me." Mr. Burke said. "You leave the convincing to me. That won't be an issue."

"Very well, very well... go along, now. I'd like to be alone." Tenpenny shooed them off.

Mr. Burke and Sandra left the balcony and entered the hallway.

"You're as subtle as a brick to the face, my dear." Mr. Burke said. "But, for some reason or another, I adore that about you."

"That was fun." Sandra laughed. "You really think you can convince the other residents to go along with this?"

"I think I can convince anyone of anything. I make a living utilizing my silver tongue." Mr. Burke replied. "And if they're stubborn, then I can show them to the door. It's not as if I'd care much if we had a few less mouths to feed anyway. These pretentious snobs wouldn't be missed by me."

"Thanks." Sandra said genuinely. "I really appreciate the help."

"Never a problem." Mr. Burke told her.

"I have to go find my friends, and I have to go find that vault too..." Sandra mumbled. "I'll have to stop by that sewer and tell Roy that he can move in. Yeah, I'll be quick about it... hopefully I'll find the vault soon... gotta get back on the road..."

"You're not coming back, then." Mr. Burke said. "You're... leaving for good."

"Not for good." Sandra told him. "I have to leave as soon as possible. I have to find my friends and my dad. But I'll come back and visit once my family situation's all taken care of. I promise."

"You _promise."_ Mr. Burke smiled. "Only children make promises. You sound like a child when you say things like that."

Sandra shrugged. "I'll see you around, Mr. Burke. Thanks for all the help."

At that, the lone wanderer waved him goodbye, then entered the elevator and rode down to the bottom floor. When she finally left the tower and found her friends' campsite, Thrash was munching on a boatfly he had killed, Bryan was feasting savoringly on FancyLad SnackCakes, and Charon was nodding off in front of the fire.

The sight of them sent a wave of happiness through her that she'd never felt before.

 _I love these guys._


	16. Andale

Traveling the sewers was the same as always.

Charon hadn't said a word when Sandra retrieved them from the campsite. He was extremely sleepy, and he'd apparently stayed up all night waiting for her. It made Sandra happy that he cared that much, but she wished he would have gotten some rest.

After they all left the campsite and walked through the tunnels, they were intercepted by a ghoul who agreed to escort them to Roy Phillips.

Roy was standing at a fire in a concealed room, staring into the flames and sipping on a beer.

Sandra stood in the doorway. "Hey, you're that ghoul who wanted to get into Tenpenny Tower, right?"

Roy turned his head and glared at her.

"I have good news. I talked to Tenpenny about it. You guys are free to move in." Sandra told him.

Roy narrowed his eyes at her. "You're shittin' me."

"Nope. I mean it. They said you can move in."

"Reeeally... and why would they do that?"

"Because I talked them into it."

"Aha..." Roy stood upright and examined her. "You just decided to help us out, just out of the kindness of your naive little squishy fucking heart, huh?"

"Pretty much." Sandra agreed. "I wish I could help you move in, but I have to go find my dad. Good luck."

* * *

The next few days consisted of no diplomacy. Sandra got more and more frustrated as they wandered aimlessly throughout the wasteland, hoping to stumble across Vault 112 just by chance, but they had no such luck. Instead, they ran into giant ants and supermutants, and Sandra, Charon, Bryan, and Thrash spent most of their time killing everything in their path. During the nights, Charon was getting progressively more rest, but Sandra could've sworn that she heard him grumbling and turning whenever he slept. He'd stopped taking jet completely, and now, even though he seemed to be sleeping like a normal person, his withdrawals were worsening and he was obviously having nightmares.

Three days after their visit to Tenpenny Tower, they were all camped at an unknown location in the middle of the wasteland. Sandra had located an overturned water tower that was completely empty on the inside. It looked like a long, tubular cave made of metal. She and her friends sought shelter inside of this structure whenever it began to rain the previous night. They all lie comfortably in their makshift beds, using their jackets as blankets and their backpacks as pillows. Sandra woke up earlier than everyone else, before the sun rose, and while the rain was still pouring. Outside of the gaping opening, she was able to see the storm.

"Inngh..." Charon jerked in his sleep. "Is... Igh..."

Sandra sat up and watched him.

Charon lie across from her beside the wall, and since he didn't have a jacket, he was using his arms to cover himself best he could, hugging his torso and trying to keep warm. The expression on his face looked disturbed.

 _He's having another nightmare,_ Sandra knew. _I wonder what he's dreaming about._

Upon closer inspection, Sandra noticed that Charon was shaking. She slipped her leather jacket off of her own body and gently covered Charon with it.

"Ahh!" Charon jumped himself awake. He stared up at her in shock, and she returned his gaze with equal surprise.

"Sorry." Sandra said softly. "You're alright, everything's fine. I was just covering you up. That's all."

Charon let out a deep breath. "You don't need to give me your jacket. I'm fine."

"You're shaking." Sandra told him. "You need something to cover up with."

"No. I don't."

"Yes you do."

"It's the withdrawal, Mistress. That's all. I'm not cold."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm-"

"I'm freezing." Sandra shivered. "I know you're cold, because I'm cold. It's freezing out here. You know what? Let's just..."

Then, Sandra lifted up part of her leather jacket and snuggled herself close to Charon's side, covering them both and lying on one of his arms.

"Let's share our warmth." Sandra said, scooting even closer to him.

It was oddly comfortable for the both of them. Charon exhaled a raspy groan, and they both fell asleep for a couple more hours. When the day began, Bryan woke up and spotted them sleeping beside one another. He raised and eyebrow at them curiously. They all packed their belongings and ate a few snacks as they began their journey once again. Afternoon would hit before they reached any form of civilization.

"Is that a town?" Bryan pointed to a small neighborhood of intact houses. "Let's see if they have a place to sleep. I'm tired of walking."

"Might as well. Not like we're gonna find the vault anytime soon..." Sandra sighed.

They all approached the town and strolled down the street. Two children were chasing each other around in one of the yards, and in front of the nearest house, a man stood in front of a grill, flipping patties of meat and smiling at the newcomers.

"Hello there!" The man said. "Welcome to Andale. How are you, weary travelers? Are you hungry? We've got plenty to go around."

Sandra's stomach gave a hungry gurgle whenever the scent of burgers met her nostrils. "Ohhhh man, what's cooking? That smells awesome!"

"Finest meat we have, stranger. My name's Willy Wilson, but everyone calls me Bill." The blonde in the sweater vest replied, flipping another burger. "We hit a stroke of luck here recently, got more meat than we know what to do with. You all look hungry. Would you care for a bite?"

"Yes please!" Sandra exclaimed. She and Bryan approached the grill, their mouths practically watering.

Charon crossed his arms and didn't move. He glared at Bill Wilson and remained silent.

"Here we go." Bill placed one of the patties on a bun and handed it to Sandra.

"Thank you!" Sandra said gratefully, grasping the burger and staring into it like she'd found a long lost friend. "God, I'm so hungry!"

"I wouldn't-" Charon began, but it was too late. Sandra took her first bite, and before anyone knew it, she had inhaled her entire burger.

"I'm glad you like my husband's cooking." A woman wearing a pink prewar dress stepped towards them. "He really is a fantastic chef. He and Mr. Smith across the street do most of the hunting and sometimes, if I'm lucky, they'll grill for me so I don't have to cook. I'm Martha, by the way, Martha Wilson. Nice to meet you. Welcome to Andale, the greatest town in Virgina."

Martha extended her hand to Sandra.

Sandra wiped her hand off on her clothes before returning the handshake. Now, Sandra was wearing a slightly modified merc adventurer outfit, the dark red sleeves cut off halfway, the boots covering her ankles, the leather pants cut at the knees, and a belt stretched over her torso and holding her one-sided shoulder armor in place. Along with her black fingerless gloves and her sunglasses, she looked quite stylish, and slightly more combat ready than she had looked in her cargo pants and her gothic tank top. Charon had fashioned this modified outfit from a merc adventurer outfit they'd looted from a raider two days ago. Sandra didn't want to stop wearing it now; it was her favorite wasteland outfit so far.

"I'm S... Sandra." Sandra told Martha, still chewing the last bits of her burger. "S-sorry... I'm Sandra. This is Bryan, and this is Charon. And the yao guai cub is Thrash."

"Thanks!" Bryan said when Bill handed him a fresh burger.

"Do you guys have anywhere we could sleep tonight?" Sandra asked. "Sorry to be so upfront about it, but we've been walking a long way, and we're really far from home. We just need a place to crash for the night. We'll be out of your hair first thing in the morning."

"Well, what's the rush? Stay as long as you like." Bill said. "Our houses are full of happy families, and I'm sorry to say that there's not enough room for anyone else to live here, but we _do_ have a lot of guest beds in the old abandoned house a little further down the way. We don't typically let anyone move in there because it's not entirely clean or habitable, compared to our houses... but if you're only staying one night, then I suppose it doesn't matter much."

"Nah, we're used to hostile conditions. We'll be fine." Sandra said confidently. "Thanks a lot."

"You're quite welcome, stranger. Make yourself comfortable in that old house. And I tell you what, come on by later this evening for supper. I'll cook enough for all of you. Sound like a plan?" Bill said.

"Yes!" Sandra and Bryan both answered.

Charon remained quiet.

"Thanks again! Come on, guys." Sandra led her friends down the road and towards the broken down house at the end of the neighborhood.

Charon peeked over his shoulder as they walked. Bill Wilson and his wife and son all stood around the front porch, smiling and talking with one another like any ordinary American-dream family. Of course, Charon knew better. Such a thing didn't exist in the wasteland - and stumbling across a community of overly polite families meant that something was very wrong.

When they stepped into the house, Sandra was surprised to find that it wasn't in bad shape at all. The kitchen was mostly empty, and the beds appeared to be clean. Hell, even the wallpaper was still intact.

"What the hell was that guy talking about? This house isn't falling apart. It's nice in here. Their cleanly standards must be ridiculously high." Sandra grinned, plopping onto the couch and stretching all of her limbs. "Hey Charon, how come you didn't ask Bill for a burger? None of us have had a full meal all day. Aren't you hungry?"

"Not for what he's cooking. No." Charon grumbled. "And might I add, Mistress... I don't think we should spend the night in this town."

"Why not?" Sandra asked.

"Because it's a town full of happy-go-lucky fuck-all freaks living in the middle of a post apocalyptic hellhole. Don't that strike you as a bit odd?" Charon told her. "Where do you think they get all that meat from? Do you think those spineless sweater vest-wearing dipshits go out hunting for yao guai? I don't."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sandra rose from her seat. "You _really_ can't accept it when people are being nice, can you?"

"What's that s'posed to mean?"

"It means, you never think that good things can happen. Why can't they just be a nice neighborhood full of nice people?"

"Because that ain't how the world works, Mistress."

"Oh, so it's _impossible_ for people to be nice?"

"Pretty much."

"I bought your contract because I wanted you out of Ahzrukhal's hands! I think that counts as nice!"

"You're a naive little child." Charon glared daggers at her. "That's why you did what you did - because you're too stupid and inexperienced to know how things work. That's the reason you bought my contract. It wasn't because you're a saint - it's because you're a dipshit."

 _WHAM._

Charon found himself suddenly looking off to the side at the stairway. Sandra had delivered a powerful, open palmed _smack_ to his cheek.

They all fell silent for a moment.

Charon's fleshy cheek stung a little. He hardly felt it. It had hurt his pride, not his body...

Sandra turned and stormed outside before Charon or Bryan could see the tears forming in her eyes.


	17. Andale II

"Well, now... what's the matter, little lady?"

Sandra approached Bill Wilson's house and wiped her eyes with her glove. "Sorry, just... out for a walk."

"Oh, you poor dear." Martha examined Sandra and made a sympathetic face. "You look positively drained. Here, come inside, I'll get you some water. Won't you stay for dinner? Mr. Smith and his daughter are coming over soon."

"Um... sure." Sandra agreed.

It didn't matter what Charon said. The people of Andale were nice, and it's about damn time they found some worthwhile people in the wasteland who weren't raping, pillaging raiders. The hurtful things Charon said didn't bother her so much - it was his refusing to accept kindness that cut her deeply. He honestly didn't believe that she cared about him... he doesn't believe in compassion at all...

Sandra sat at the dinner table of the Wilson family. Martha Wilson began talking about the home owner's association while Bill brought a fresh plate of burgers inside from the grill. Still, Sandra was hardly hearing anything that Martha said. She couldn't get her mind off of Charon...

* * *

"Stupid."

Charon flumped onto the largest bed in the abandoned house and crossed his arms.

"Um..." Bryan stood in the bedroom's doorway and leaned on the wooden frame. "Don't you think we should... I don't know... go after her, or something?"

"Nah. You can go after her if you want, kid. I'm taking a nap." Charon rolled over and faced the wall.

There was a pause.

"What did you mean, you wouldn't eat what he was cooking?" Bryan asked. "Those burgers that that guy was cooking... was there something wrong with them?"

Charon didn't reply right away.

"Oh... for fuck's sake." Charon sat upright. "Yes, there was something wrong with 'em. I've smelled that stuff before."

"What stuff?" Bryan wondered.

Charon stared at him intently. "Human flesh. That's what human meat smells like on the fire."

"Have you eaten human flesh before?" Bryan asked, feeling unsettled.

"Not by choice." Charon said. "I grew up in a slave pit, kid. The slavers killed off the weak and the sick slaves and fed 'em to the rest of us."

Bryan went pale. He couldn't imagine living in such a horrible place...

"Place I grew up looked like a normal town up front. They kept the ugly stuff away from the streets, so the passerby's wouldn't know to avoid the place... it just looked like a normal town." Charon explained. "They'd lure people in, making them think it's just a normal town, then they'd capture'em... turn 'em into slaves... or cook 'em and eat 'em."

"And you think the people in this town are doing something like that?"

"Nah. They ain't slavers. But they _are_ cannibals... and they've gotta be getting the meat from somewhere..."

"From passerby's. From people passing through town." Bryan said. "People like us."

"Yup." Charon sighed. "I tried to tell her."

"We can't just sit here, can we? Sandra might get killed and eaten!" Bryan proclaimed.

Charon stared at him.

"Ugh... Goddammit."

* * *

Sandra gazed into her burger dazily, leaning on her hands and slumping over the dinner table.

 _Why did I smack him?_ She thought sadly. _Now he's never gonna open up to me. Damn it..._

"So, where are your friends?" Martha Wilson asked. "I thought we were having you _all_ for dinner."

"They were tired. They wanted some rest." Sandra replied. "Maybe I should go talk to them. I can talk them into coming over for dinner, I bet."

"That'd be lovely, dear." Martha smiled. "We'll have a few more plates prepared by the time you get back."

Sandra stood and marched out the front door. It only made sense to go and make up with Charon now. She didn't like leaving things on a bad note, and not to mention, it wasn't fair of her to eat dinner without him.

On her way down the street, she caught sight of a small shed in the Wilson's back yard.

 _I bet that's a storage shed,_ Sandra thought. _We're getting low on food and money. Maybe I can find some food in there... they won't mind if I borrow some for the road..._

Sandra crept through the back yard and picked the lock on the shed. When she stepped into the rickedy metal building, a disgusting scent hit her full force. The inside of the shed contained a variety of cutting boards, knives, rippers, and human remains scattered all over.

"Oh God..." Sandra uttered, her heart leaping into her throat. Suddenly, she got the urge to vomit.

"Oh, now, look here..." Bill Wilson approached her from behind, carrying a 12 gauge shotgun. "I see you've discovered our little family secret. And here I was enjoying your company... why'd you have to go and spoil it by poking around and sticking your nose into our affairs?"

"Why do you have to go around killing and eating people?!" Sandra barked. "Is that what was in those burgers? Did you feed me _human burgers?"_

"Yes, and you seemed to enjoy it. Why, if you never found out what it was, I think you'd be perfectly fine eating it day to day like we do." Bill said. "Is it really such a crime to feed our families? Some people are sacrificed, yes, but my family comes first. They need to be fed, no matter what, or _who_ the cost. That's the way it works in Andale."

"Not anymore." Sandra reached for her holster.

 _BANG._

Bill fired off a shot before Sandra could draw her weapon.

The 12 gauge round shattered a massive hole in the shack, narrowly missing Sandra by inches.

Before Bill could fire again, someone grabbed him from behind and placed a large combat knife into his neck.

Bill's eyes went wide. Charon pulled him closer and began to cut his throat.

"What's the matter, eh?" Charon growled monstrously. "Can't stand the sight of your own blood?"

It happened. Charon dragged the blade against the man's throat in a swift, strong movement.

Bill fell to the ground motionlessly, his neck pouring blood and his body landing awkwardly in the dirt.

The Smiths, who were across the street and witnessing everything, charged at Charon.

Charon was always quick on the draw, though; he yanked out his shotgun and made short work of the families with three rapid shots. _BANG, BANG, BANG._

A small silence lingered in the air after the cannibals fell dead on the ground.

Sandra, who was visibly shaken by the encounter, gulped and stared at Charon until he turned to her.

"I'm s-sorry." Sandra sputtered. "I'm sorry, I just... I thought it would be nice... I thought it'd be nice to meet some friendly people for once... I thought..."

Charon let out a long, hoarse sigh.

"Mistress... you're going to be disappointed if you set your hopes on other people." He told her. "People like you are as good as it gets out here."

Sandra blinked. "People like me?"

Charon lowered his shotgun and rolled his neck. "Auugh... you know what I mean... people who, uh... try and act good. Naive people."

Sandra smiled. Coming from Charon, that was a big compliment.

"Let's go. We're not staying here tonight. We'll find a place to camp." Sandra said, walking off and waving for him to follow.

Charon exhaled a relieved breath.

"Thank, fucking, _God."_


	18. Nuka Break

In the days passing, Sandra became more and more distracted from her task of locating Vault 112.

After their spat in Andale, she and Charon seemed even closer than before. They didn't bring up the fight, but they didn't argue with one another for about a week afterwards, and they both seemed to be going out of their way to help each other more often. Sandra didn't say it out loud, but she suspected that Charon was beginning to view her as an equal and a friend rather than someone who held his contract and managed his employment. It made her happy.

They discovered a place called Big Town, a town full of young adults who were scraping by on almost no food and water, and who were living in constant fear of supermutant invasions. So, Sandra, Charon, Bryan, and Thrash all trekked after the supermutants and put an end to them. They even managed to rescue a few of Big Town's human captives alive from the supermutant hideout. Charon took the opportunity to teach Sandra and Bryan how to look for traps, and it was a good thing he did. Otherwise, Sandra and Bryan would have blundered directly into a few hidden landmines and frag grenade bouquets. They also found a town called Arefu,which sat on top of a broken highway. The town had been plagued with visits from a nearby cannibal cult, but they weren't the same as the Andale towners. The cult, who called themselves the "Family," were very careful about practicing their habits; they only drank the blood of humans, rather than eating all of their flesh, and they'd usually use blood packets rather than feasting on live people. Sandra found them to be a strange bunch, but oddly enough, she actually got along with the family of vampires quite well. They seemed like a gang of misunderstood freaks, and that was something Sandra could relate to. After organizing a pact of peace between Arefu and the Family, Sandra and her companions were on their way.

Now, they'd all made themselves comfortable at a small campsite next to an old run-down bus. The back of the bus was gone, leaving a gaping hole open as a makeshift entrance to the ancient vehicle. Sandra planned to sleep inside of the bus when night time would roll around. But as of now, she and Bryan were taking turns shooting glass bottles and boatflies off in the distance, while Charon sat on what remained of the bus' bumper, cleaning his shotgun and sipping on a bottle of water.

A few days ago, they had visited a Nukacola factory, and now, Sandra was overjoyed. All of the empty space in her backpack was filled with as many Nukacolas as she could possibly carry. The rush of caffeine was a special treat for her; Nukacola was definitely her favorite wasteland luxury.

"Mistress." Charon called without taking his eyes off his shotgun. "Stop drinking those goddamn things, unless you wanna have a heart attack."

Sandra finished off her third Nukacola, hopped off of the picnic table, and placed the empty bottle at the top of a rock. Bryan waited until Sandra was sitting on the picnic table again before he aimed his revolver and opened fire. The bottle exploded into shards of glass.

"You're doing good!" Sandra grinned. "Hell, you might be a better shot than me now."

Bryan smiled bashfully.

Thrash finally managed to paw his way onto the top of the picnic table and cuddle up beside Sandra, letting out a few bearish yawns as he did.

"I can see Tenpenny Tower from here." Sandra shielded her eyes from the sunlight and stared off into the distance, where Tenpenny Tower stood tall and ominous over everything else. "We should go visit them again. I'd like to see how Roy and Tenpenny are getting along. That's gotta be interesting."

It was rare for this to happen; the setting was nice. Sandra and her friends didn't find time to relax often. It was a pleasant change to be sitting still for once. After all the adventures they'd gotten themselves wrapped up in lately, they needed a break. What would make a better day off than sitting around with friends, shooting at inanimate objects, and chugging down Nukacola?

"Charon, why don't you come shoot?" Sandra asked.

"You don't have any more bottles left, Mistress. You've destroyed them all." Charon replied, cleaning out his gun's barrel with a rag wrapped around a stick.

"I've got plenty of bottles." Sandra pulled out three more Nukacolas from her backpack. "I just have to make them empty. Gimme a second..."

Then, Sandra began gulping down one of the Nukacolas without pausing for breath.

"Mistress, just look around for some tin cans to shoot instead of scarfing down that bile." Charon said, looking up. "Really, there's no need to-"

Something caught his eye.

Bryan had claimed a spot at the picnic table, and was now reading a comic book. Sandra was far too busy ingesting her soda, and Thrash had fallen asleep. None of them noticed the gigantic reptilian creature off in the distance.

Further down the clearing was a deathclaw.

The deathclaw wasn't coming towards them. Not yet. It seemed to be occupied with something else; it raised its elongated claws and swatted repeatedly at something that Charon wasn't able to see.

"Mistress..." He uttered.

Sandra held up a finger, gesturing for him to wait until she finished off her Nukacola.

"Mistress..." Charon said again.

Sandra made a stop-sign motion with her hand, still lost in her beverage.

 _"Mistress!"_ Charon hissed, pointing off towards the field where the dealthclaw resided. _"Look, goddammit!"_

Her Nukacola bottle became empty. Sandra tossed it aside and squinted at the clearing.

"Is that a deathclaw?" She said. "We haven't seen one of those in a long time."

"Maybe we should leave." Bryan said, trying his damnedest not to sound afraid.

"Yeah, we should definitely... definitely... leave..." Sandra trailed off as she slowly climbed off of the table, narrowing her eyes and taking a closer look at the deathclaw. It was attacking something... or someone...

A tiny round object hovered in the air near the deathclaw. It fired off a few laser shots, burning the creature in the face.

The round object was an Enclave eyebot. It hovered over top of a person, who was lying in the dirt at the deathclaw's feet.

Sandra pieced it together. _Someone got attacked by that deathclaw, and that eyebot's trying to protect them._

The deathclaw roared and smacked the eyebot out of the air. It hit a nearby boulder and broke into several chunks of metal, sending blue sparks flying amok.

"Shit!"

Sandra grabbed her 44 from the table and bolted down the hill without thinking.

Someone was in trouble. Someone was about to get eaten alive by a deathclaw.

 _I'm not gonna let that happen!_

"God fucking dammit!" Charon hollered, quickly shoving a few 12 gauge rounds into his shotgun before reaching his feet and chasing after his mistress.

Bryan and Thrash both followed close behind.

The injured man crawled backward, gazing up at the monstrous creature with his mouth hanging agape.

"HEY!" Sandra pressed the trigger twice; two shots hit the deathclaw's hard shoulder skin. "OVER HERE, FUCKER!"

It turned to her, exhaling a low, menacing growl and baring its teeth.

The monster's white, souless eyes rested on her.

"Um..." Sandra aimed at the beast's head. "Oh God... I hope this works..."

The VATS on the screen of her Pip-Boy gave her a precise reading, indicating a small portion of the deathclaw's head which would be the most vulnerable part of the monster's defensive outer shell. Sandra glimpsed at the reading, and just when the deathclaw went to take a step towards her, she hammered the trigger and unloaded her 44 into the deathclaw's face.

It reared back and let out a series of pained yowls, but somehow, it didn't die. Its face became bloody, but it zeroed in on her, still ready to strike.

The deathclaw lunged at her.

Sandra snapped her eyes shut.

More gunshots rang throughout the wasteland as Charon and Bryan shot the monster to death, piercing both its heart and its skull.

The deathclaw crumbled and fell to the ground.

Sandra let out a relieved cloud of breath. "Holy..."

"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" Charon snarled at her. "You really _do_ have a goddamn death wish, don't you?!"

"Whoa... I can't believe I shot a deathclaw." Bryan smiled breathlessly. "Cool."

Sandra didn't hear them. Her eyes fixated on the injured man on the ground.

The injured man returned her gaze, both of them staring at one another in total awe.

This man on wasn't just a random wastelander; it was someone Sandra recognized.

"What're you doing out here?" Sandra asked him in astonishment.

"Well... it's complicated." Mr. Burke moaned in response, forcing himself to sit upright. "It's a long and complicated story, my dear... _ngh..._ Damn it..."

"Here, sit still." Sandra knelt beside him and examined his wounds.

Mr. Burke's sunglasses were intact, as well as his hat, but his tan suit had two long gashes along the collar and the left side of his chest. The deathclaw had sliced into him with two of its five claws, and the suit was becoming blotched in his blood.

"It figures." Mr. Burke mumbled, looking down at his chest. "This is my nicest outfit. Serves me right for traveling in it, I suppose..."

"I can fix you up." Sandra said. "Come up to the bus. I have some first aid stuff in my backpack."

"Oh, come now, I can't have you giving charity to me. I don't work well when I'm indebted to someone."

"Get up and come on. You're not gonna be indebted to me."

Sandra grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet.

 _"Owwww."_ Mr. Burke grasped his two bleeding gashes, the blood staining his fingers and his palm. "Nothing like a mortal injury to instill some humbleness..."

Sandra led Mr. Burke up the hill. Charon and Bryan exchanged glances before they followed suit.

"Sit down and take your shirt off." Sandra ordered, pointing at the picnic table.

"My my, dear... should we really be so intimate in front of your friends?" Mr. Burke said with a sly smirk.

"Shut up and take your shirt off." Sandra retorted. "And tell me something - what're you doing out in the middle of nowhere by yourself? That's a pretty stupid move."

"I don't ordinarily travel alone." Mr. Burke said, unbuttoning the upper half of his suit and wincing in pain. "Of course... my circumstances were anything but ordinary. I used to travel with Tenpenny and Gustavo, as well as a little robot protection. But none of them could accompany me this time, I'm afraid."

"Why not?" Sandra asked as she dabbed the blood off of his bare chest with a rag. "What happened?"

"Well... my leave wasn't a vacation or a business run. It was an escape." Burke explained. "Your harmless ghoul friends turned out to be a lot more aggressive than you had anticipated. All of the human residents were evicted or killed. Tenpenny was thrown off of his balcony, and Gustavo took a few 5.56 rounds to the head."

Charon raised his eyebrows, and Bryan listened with a childlike curiosity.

Sandra looked shocked.

"Don't get me wrong. The way some of the residents spoke to the ghouls... it would have infuriated me just as well, if I were one of them. But it seemed Roy Phillips wasn't interested in weeding out the bigots and accepting the more tolerant humans. No, he wanted _all_ of the humans extinguished from Tenpenny Tower. And he succeeded." Mr. Burke told her. "I only managed to escape because I happened to be out in the courtyard when I spotted Tenpenny flying off of the edge of his precious balcony. Roy was the one who pushed him. I decided it probably wasn't safe for me there after that. Gustavo kicked up a fuss just as I was slipping out through the gates. I didn't see it... but I heard it. They shot him down on the spot."

"I'm sorry..." Sandra said, feeling an immeasurable guilt welling up inside her. "I thought... I thought they'd... I didn't know they'd..."

"Oh, please. What's life without a little excitement?" Mr. Burke replied. "It was certainly a refreshing change of pace... running for my life like that..."

"What? How can you be okay with your friends all dying like that?!" Sandra exclaimed.

"My _friends?"_ Mr. Burke exhaled a laugh. "My dear, Tenpenny and Gustavo were mutual survivors. Nothing more. I _worked_ for them. I wasn't their friend, I was their... employee. I was their go-to for problem solving. And in case you didn't notice... neither of them were particularly decent men. I don't mourn their loss at all."

"Just because you worked for them doesn't mean you couldn't be friends..." Sandra said, glimpsing at Charon. "And anyway, what makes you think you're any better than Gustavo or Tenpenny? You did all their shady work. You really think you're better than them?"

"Well, no." Mr. Burke agreed. "But up until recently, I haven't been inspired to be better than they are. Their loss gives me a new chance, I suppose. A fresh start."

Sandra studied him for a moment, then popped open her first aid kit and went to work disinfecting his two injuries.

Mr. Burke had only just realized that Charon was glaring at him.

"Um..." Bryan walked up to the picnic table and looked up at Mr. Burke. "I don't mean to be rude, but... who are you?"

"Yeah. That's a real good question." Charon added, crossing his arms and staring between Burke and Sandra.

Sandra gulped as she began wrapping Mr. Burke's chest with gauze. She had told Charon and Bryan the story about Mr. Burke in Megaton, but neither of them had ever actually seen Mr. Burke before. There was no telling how they'd react to her becoming friends with the man who had once tried to blow up a town of innocent people.

"I am Mr. Burke." Mr. Burke answered simply. "Pleased to meet you both."

"Mr. Burke?!" Bryan said. "You're the guy who tried to blow up Megaton?!"

"That's all I need to know." Charon marched forward and raised his shotgun, holding the barrel inches away from Burke's face.

"Hey!" Sandra shoved the shotgun away, making Charon drop it. "Calm down! You can't just blow his head off!"

"Well, why the hell not?!" Charon shot back. "You told me what this guy did. We ain't keeping him around."

"He just said he wanted to make a fresh start!" Sandra replied. "Give him a fucking chance!"

"No. No chances."

"He helped me when I was at Tenpenny Tower! He's not a completely evil bastard, Charon!"

"Like hell he's not. I know evil when I fuckin' see it."

"Yeah? Well, you're no better than Ahzrukhal if you decide to shoot first and ask questions later."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You had to do Ahzrukhal's dirty work just like Mr. Burke had to do Tenpenny's. You got a second chance - so he should get one too."

Charon opened his mouth to continued the argument, but no words came out.

There was a long, tense silence.

"Alright... fine. Whatever." Charon griped. "He gives me one fuckin' reason to believe he's gonna screw us over, and I'm ending him. No questions asked."


	19. Scientific Pursuits

"So..."

All of them walked in silence for nearly an hour before anyone bothered speaking. Sandra was at the front of the group with Charon close behind, followed by Mr. Burke, Bryan, and Thrash. Sandra didn't feel like talking, and Charon feared he might explode in anger if he opened his mouth again.

"So... dare I ask." Mr. Burke said. "Where, exactly, are we going?"

"I'm still looking for the vault where my dad is." Sandra answered. "You're coming with us because it's not safe to travel alone out here."

"I see." Mr. Burke nodded. "Well... I don't mind. It's not as if I have a home to return to anymore."

Silence fell again. After another hour of walking, Sandra decided to lead her friends into a nearby garage in order to rest. Everyone was tired.

"Sweet!" Sandra said once they walked inside, sticking her arm inside of a Nukacola machine and pulling out a Quantum.

"Just what you need. More of that jet fuel in your goddamn bloodstream." Charon griped as he claimed a seat on one of the mattresses.

"Hey, I never got to have Nuka growing up. My dad wouldn't let me drink it. I like having it, alright? It tastes good." Sandra told him. "It's one of the few luxuries in the wasteland. It's the same with you and scotch."

"I do _not_ drink scotch that much."

"Yes you do!"

"No, I don't. And even then - scotch doesn't do shit to me. Nuka hypes you up and makes you act like a fuckin' radscorpion on jet."

Sandra and Charon continued to take playful shots at each other. Bryan laughed at them.

Mr. Burke didn't say anything. He merely folded his arms behind his back and watched them silently.

When they stopped talking, Sandra began kicking around one of the old trash cans, bashing it into the wall and making a loud, obnoxious metallic BANG-ing noise over and over again. Thrash, who seemed to think that she was playing a game, galloped after the can and tried to leap inside of it numerous times.

"Fuck, fuck, fuuuuck!" Sandra delivered one final kick, sending the trash can flying across the inside of the garage. "We're never gonna find this damn vault!"

"Will you quit kicking shit around?" Charon massaged his forehead irritably. "You're giving me a migraine."

"But I need to find the vault! I can't just keep wandering around and getting involved with other people's problems... I need to find my dad!" Sandra exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah, I get that. Kicking shit around ain't gonna help anything, Mistress."

"I can kick shit if I want to! It's a wasteland - it's not a five star fucking restaurant!"

"What?!"

"I'm saying, it doesn't matter if I destroy stuff. Everything's already destroyed!"

"Yeah, but I have a fuckin' headache."

"Well, I'm sorry! I'm just annoyed!"

"So am I."

"Ugggh!"

Mr. Burke walked across the interior of the old building quietly while Sandra and Charon argued. He skimmed over the walls and the shelves, then, his eyes rested on a rectangular yellow switch on the wall behind Sandra. And Sandra, lost amidst her rant, still hadn't noticed it.

Looking down, Mr. Burke noticed that Sandra was standing on a large metal platform that looked very different from the rest of the floor. It looked like an entrance to a very large basement.

"Charon, you never get headaches! How is it you suddenly have a migraine now?!"

"Gee. I don't know. Maybe being forced to quit a hardcore chem cold turkey might've had something to do with it."

"You've been fine up until now! Don't give me that! I did that so you'd feel better, not worse!"

"Well, good freakin' job."

"Up yours!"

"Um... if I might interrupt..." Mr. Burke said, raising his hand.

"Dammit Charon - you're not gonna live that long if you don't watch your damn health!" Sandra continued.

"I ain't paid to live. I'm paid to fulfill my contractual obligations. That's all I'm supposed to do. That's all I fuckin' _care_ about doing."

"Don't give me that bullshit! I know better than that!"

"Are we doing this again, Mistress? Are we having this argument again? Seriously?"

"Yeah, we're having this argument again. We're gonna _keep_ having it until it sinks into your head - we're FRIENDS, not business partners!"

"Excuse me..." Mr. Burke said again. Neither of them seemed to hear him.

"Charon. When we were in Andale, you went after me. You saved my life right in the nick of time. Remember?"

"Yes. It's my job to do so."

"Yeah, well, if you would've let me die, you would've had your freedom. But you didn't."

"You're reading way too much into the way I do my job, Mistress."

"Why can't you just say that you're my friend? Why?!"

"My goodness, you two quarrel like an old married couple." Mr. Burke muttered, approaching the yellow switch and pressing one of the buttons. "Let's see what this does."

Just when Charon was about to retaliate, the platform underneath Sandra's feet began to open.

Sandra nearly fell, until Charon grabbed her by the arm and yanked her away from the expanding entrance.

The two metal platforms slid into either side of the floor, revealing a stairway that led into a secret basement underneath the building.

Everyone exchanged looks.

"My dear, I believe I may have just found your vault." Mr. Burke said. "Lead the way."

"What? Vault? That's the entrance to a _vault?"_ Sandra said excitedly. "Yes! Yes yes yes - thank you so much!"

Sandra rushed down the stairs without wasting a second.

Mr. Burke was smirking. Charon shot him a strange glare before following Sandra into the basement, with Bryan and Thrash tip-toeing close behind.

Sandra turned a corner, spotting the vault's actual entrance, but before she could step inside, a robobrain rolled around the corner and stopped her.

"Greetings. Welcome to Vault 112. According to sensors, you are two-hundred years and four months late, resident. Please take your vault uniform from the nearby cabinet and go to your assigned tranquility pod in the main quarters." The robobrain said. "Have a nice simulation, resident."

"Simulation? Tranquility pod?" Sandra wondered. "What the hell does that all mean?"

"I believe that some vaults were equipped with simulation technology. These were vaults that didn't have proper living arrangements... beds, kitchens, showers, basic living essentials of any kind really... so, some vaults simply used virtual reality as a means to keep their residents feeling at home." Mr. Burke said. "It's not quite as nice as it sounds. VaultTec almost assuredly had ulterior motives for utilizing such a program. They're well known in the history books for treating their human residents like lab rats in a controlled experimental environment."

"If my dad is here..." Sandra mumbled.

"Then he is most likely inside of the simulation." Mr. Burke replied. "If he came here to speak to any of the vault residents, he will have had to enter the simulation to talk to them. Waking them from the simulation would have potentially lethal effects on the residents' nervous systems and may well put them into shock, or simply kill them."

"How do you know all this?" Sandra asked.

"I am an expert when it comes to unfavorable information of any kind, my dear. It's my curse." Mr. Burke answered truthfully.

"That don't sound right." Charon said. "If these people have been in a simulation for all these years, that means nobody's found a way to wake themselves up and snap out of it. If you go in there, you may not be able to get out again."

"Well... theoretically..." Mr. Burke began, placing his fingers together thoughtfully. "If you could find a way to hack the system from the inside, then you would be home free. One of the people in the simulation has to be controlling the whole thing, otherwise it couldn't function. Find the person who's in charge, and he will know how to awaken you from your virtual reality slumber."

"Yeah, _if_ he wants to give up that information." Charon added. "She wouldn't have any way to make him spill his info. He could just keep her trapped there, and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it."

"What do you care?" Sandra snarled. "It's got nothing to do with your _contractual obligations,_ so it shouldn't bother you."

Charon opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn't find any words. He didn't expect her to say that.

After a small pause, Sandra marched into the vault. Mr. Burke, Bryan, and Thrash followed her.

"Oh, don't be a fucking brat." Charon grumbled as he trekked after them. "Don't be like that, Mistress. Don't go and do something fucking reckless just because you're pissed off at me. Jesus fucking Christ... grow up, will ya?"

Sandra entered the main floor, where she was able to see many virtual reality simulation pods stationed in a circular formation down below. She thumped down the stairs and approached the only empty pod that she could find.

"Mistress." Charon slammed a hand onto the metal exterior of the pod, staring into Sandra heatedly. "Don't."

"Charon. Make up your mind." Sandra replied.

"What?"

"Make up your mind."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, make up your mind - do you actually care about me, or not?"

Charon almost said something incredibly impulsive in response to this, but he managed to force it down.

Sandra raised her eyebrows at him.

"C... course I do." Charon said almost forcibly. "That's a stupid fucking question."

Sandra gave him a half smile. "I appreciate that a lot... but I still need to get into that pod."

"It's not safe, Mistress."

"I know that. But I'll find a way out of the simulation. I promise. I won't keep you waiting."

"Perhaps... we should study up on this a little more before you do anything rash." Mr. Burke cut in. "Maybe we can uncover a fail safe, some sort of Plan B to get you awake and on your feet if things in the simulation go awry. There must be a fail safe of some kind, we just need to find out what it is."

"The fail safe would be controlled by the guy in charge, and he's in the simulation. I have to talk to him from inside, like you said." Sandra told him, pressing the green button on the pod. The top half of the pod opened up to reveal a seat, a countless amount of wires, and a television on the inside. "I'll wake up as soon as I possibly can, okay you guys? Just wait around for me. Make yourselves comfortable in the vault. Take a nap if you have to. I'll wake up soon, I swear."

Sandra climbed inside of the pod and sat snugly in the leather seat.

The last thing she saw before the pod closed itself around her was the troubled look on Charon's face.


	20. Project Purity

"Um... go fish?"

Charon glimpsed at Bryan. "Kid. We're playing Poker, not Goldfish."

Charon, Bryan, and Mr. Burke were all sitting in a circle outside of Sandra's simulation pod with a deck of cards placed on the floor in between them. They all had a handful of cards, and Thrash was too busy gnawing on a nearby robobrain's arm to pay them any mind. At least three hours had gone by, and after standing around in silence, Mr. Burke proposed that they do something to pass the time. So, here they were.

"Full house." Charon laid all of his cards down.

"My..." Mr. Burke gave Charon an impressed stare. "You have quite the poker face, Mr. Charon. I didn't think you were the type."

"Years of practice." Charon replied as he began to shuffle the deck. "I've been working as a bouncer for years. Played a lot of cards in my down time."

"I don't wanna play anymore." Bryan said.

"Suit yourself, kid." Charon responded. "Alright. Just you and me, baldy. Let's up the stakes."

"Oh, you mean gamble?" Mr. Burke asked. "You really don't seem like the type to be hustling people out of their caps, you know. A ghoul bodyguard - I picture you breaking a man's arm backwards before I picture you smooth talking your way through a high-stakes game of poker."

"Who's to say I can't do both?" Charon said devilishly. "Play me, you chicken shit. Ain't like we got anything better to do in the meantime."

"Oh, very well. You're right about that."

Charon would steal a glance of the simulation pod every now and then. It was annoying that Sandra hadn't woken up yet. What were they supposed to do while she found her way out of a virtual world by herself? Playing cards was about as useful as anything else they could do at the moment...

Before their next game could start, one of the pods further across the room began to open. Charon narrowed his eyes at it.

Another pod opened. Then another.

People began stepping out of the pods all around them.

Then, finally, Sandra's pod opened.

Charon reached his feet and waited for her to emerge.

Sandra blinked herself awake, sitting upright and rubbing her eyes. "Ow... my head."

"Mistress." Charon waved a hand in front of her face. "Hey, Mistress. You with us? Can you hear me?"

"Oh..." Sandra grasped his hand and pressed it into her cheek. "You're so warm... thank God... thank God I'm back in the real world... I can actually _feel_ things again..."

"What was it like? Spare us no suspense." Mr. Burke said.

"Yeah, tell us what happened!" Bryan added.

"Well... I found a lot of people. I didn't find my dad, but I found this guy... this doctor guy... he was a little girl... and the computer was in the wall... and the oven killed Mrs. Wellington... and then... then... the Chinese people came to Tranquility Lane..." Sandra rambled tiredly.

Bryan, Charon, and Mr. Burke all looked utterly dumbfounded.

"Wait... everyone's waking up." Sandra said, looking around and noticing that the vault residents were walking around the simulation room, all of them appearing dazed and confused. "That means Dad's here somewhere... let me down!"

Sandra jumped out of the pod too quickly. Charon caught her before she could fall.

"Calm the fuck down." Charon told her, holding her gently by the waist until she became steady.

Sandra ignored him. Her attention was completely somewhere else now.

Charon, Bryan, and Mr. Burke all turned to see that a middle-aged man in a vault suit was approaching them. None of them recognized the man, but they all knew who he was immediately. He wore the same exact model Pip-Boy as Sandra, and he even had the same crystal blue eyes. It was James - Sandra's long lost father.

"Oh... sweety." James placed a hand on Sandra's face very softly, wearing a saddened expression. "You look so different... so worn out, and beaten, and... where did you get that outfit? Goodness, I never wanted this life for you. A life in this radioactive violent cesspool."

Sandra wrapped her arms around him. They hugged each other in a smothering, loving way, and when they separated, James looked between Sandra and her companions.

"I see you've made some allies." James said. "I'm glad you came. I wasn't prepared for Doctor Braun, or I might have fared better. All the same... it's good to see you, but what are you _doing_ here?"

"I came to find you." Sandra said simply. "Amata's dad and the others ran me off, anyway. They thought I had something to do with you disappearing."

"They what?" James said, sounding astounded. "I... I never thought they'd stoop so low, otherwise I never would have left you there."

"Dad, why _did_ you leave?" Sandra asked him, forcing down the urge to cry. It felt wonderful to finally see her father again, but ever since the day she left Vault 101, she couldn't comprehend why he'd left her there in the first place. It was a question that she desperately needed answered.

"Sweety... I wish I could have explained it to you a long time ago. I probably should have." James replied. "I'm guessing that you found my journal logs, and that's how you knew I'd be here in Vault 112."

"Yeah, and I remember hearing something about a GECK." Sandra said.

"Right. I need a GECK to get Project Purity up and running again. I thought Doctor Braun might have had one, but well, this vault wasn't exactly what I was expecting, and neither was he. I suppose I'll have to take my search somewhere else. But The data I've found is invaluable. I have to get this back to the lab in Rivet City as quickly as I can. Purified water for everyone in the Capitol Wasteland - that's my goal here. You must understand, Sweety. I wouldn't be doing all of this if it wasn't absolutely worth it."

"I get it, but..."

"Sweety." James placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'd love it if you came with me back to the memorial. We can get Madison and we can get the project moving again. I'd like you to be there with me when I open those floodgates. I'd like your help."

This explained everything; Sandra herself had spent all of her time wandering the wastes helping anyone she came across, even disgruntled ghoul bouncers, shady and merciless businessmen, and recently orphaned children, not to mention young mutant monsters. She didn't know why, but she loved helping people - and that's exactly what drove her father. He planned to help everyone in the wasteland all at once, sustaining them by distributing purified water to them all. Of course she understood why he left, and she was damn proud of him for the goal he was chasing.

"I'd love to help." Sandra said with a smile.

"That's my girl." James grinned, patting her on the arm. "Come on. Let's go. We've got a long walk ahead of us."

* * *

During the walk, Sandra's companions were eerily silent.

After contacting Doctor Madison Li and her assistants in Rivet City, James, Sandra, and the others returned to the Jefferson Memorial where Project Purity resided. Sandra made sure the building was completely free of supermutants before allowing her father and the other scientists to enter it.

So, while James continued giving Sandra different jobs to do around the memorial, and making small talk with her in between tasks, Charon and Mr. Burke stood with their arms crossed near one of the doors without moving. The other scientists would shuffle passed them, and Bryan was playing with Thrash back in the main room of the building, but the two of them didn't seem to belong on the scene at all. So, they merely stood like statues near the closest exit.

"This is far too positive for my tastes." Mr. Burke said quietly. "She looks a little too happy over there with her father. And I suppose, it _is_ a good thing, I'm just not... accustomed... to this sort of happy-go-lucky environment, if you know what I mean. All this talk about helping others, saving humanity, working for the greater good... it's all very new to me."

"Boy, do I understand that feeling." Charon agreed, slipping a flask out of his leather armor and taking a swig of scotch. "Still. It's better than working for a bunch of pricks."

Charon handed Mr. Burke the flask.

"I second that." Mr. Burke nodded, taking a sip of Charon's liquor and handing it back to him. "Thank you very much. I haven't had a taste of alcohol since Sandra and I were served Nukarum by my old robot friend back at the tower. Don't suppose I'll ever have the pleasure of being served by Shakes again, though. How unlucky."

Charon gave him a surveying look. "So you and her... you _do_ know each other, then."

"Somewhat. I met her in Megaton, on less-than-friendly terms... but when we reunited in Tenpenny Tower, we seemed less... less hostile." Mr. Burke explained. "Won me over, she did. And damn her for that. No one's ever been clever enough to win me over. But then she waltzes in and does it completely by accident. There's something about that blunt-as-a-spoon approach of hers that I like. It's a refreshing change, compared to what I'm used to. No beating around the bush. She doesn't take flak from anyone."

They both stopped talking for a few minutes.

James was standing near the purifier, talking with Sandra about fixing some of the pipes.

Charon watched them from a distance.

"I can see why you're so adamant about keeping me away from her." Mr. Burke said. "And you're right to be."

"She's just a stupid kid. That's why she acts that way. It ain't because she's some prize catch. She's just a ditz." Charon responded, still staring at Sandra and James.

"I understand what you mean, but I don't believe _stupid_ is the right word to describe her... mannerisms." Mr. Burke told him. "I believe the word you're looking for is _innocent."_

"Same difference." Charon grumbled.

"Perhaps." Mr. Burke shrugged. "But I find it hard to look at her... at them... and not feel a strange twinge of inspiration. It's hard not to respect someone who has enough gall to go against the flow, to reject the horrible truths of the world and break their backs trying to mend them. Why... I think that you and I wouldn't be here if not for that streak of idealism in her."

"Alright, alright." Charon said. "I get it. You're head-over-fucking-heels for the kid. It's fucking obvious. I get the message. Stop talking about it."

"Well, I think it'd be polite of me to ask her bodyguard's permission before I..."

"Before you _what?"_

"Before I... _pursue_ her."

Charon glared into Mr. Burke wordlessly for nearly a full minute.

"You have my permission to piss off." The ghoul growled. "You pursue her, and the next thing you'll be pursuin' is a goddamn doctor to get my boot outta your ass."


	21. Crooked Interests

"Guys!"

Sandra darted up to Charon and Mr. Burke. She was completely unaware of the conversation they'd been having.

"Dad says we have to go down to the pipes and twist a valve or something. I might need some help. Come with me!" Sandra beamed, starting towards the door.

Charon followed her.

"And me?" Mr. Burke asked. "Am I to assume that I'm a part of your little Scooby gang, then?"

"Well, duh." Sandra replied. "I didn't save your life and drag you halfway across the wasteland just to tell you to get lost. Come on!"

Mr. Burke smiled, and the three of them left the room. After meeting up with Bryan and Thrash, Sandra and her friends all headed through the main halls and located the sewer grate that would lead them to their destination. She pulled the metal lid off of the hole and climbed inside, her companions all doing the same.

"Dad knows about Megaton." Sandra said happily as they walked through the large pipe. "He said he's proud of me."

"I see, and does he know that I..." Mr. Burke began.

"No, I didn't tell him that you tried to blow up the town. Let's keep that hush-hush." Sandra responded. "As far as I'm concerned, that never happened. Fresh start, remember?"

"Why are we crawling through the pipes?" Bryan asked from the back of the group. "It stinks in here."

"We have to fix a valve. When we're done, Dad and I are gonna test a few things. We might actually get it working!" Sandra said joyously.

Charon, who was right behind her, gave her a lingering stare as they walked. He'd never seen her so happy before.

"Here we go." Sandra found the valve. It sat in front of a broken opening in the pipe, which made the sky outside completely visible. She began to twist the valve, and continued to do so until it refused to turn anymore. "There. I think we're done..."

A noise interrupted her.

It was faint at first, but it grew steadily louder. The sound of propellers...

Sandra and her companions gazed through the broken opening.

Two vertibirds were flying dangerously close to the memorial. They both landed on the roof of the building, and Sandra was able to see a few armed soldiers wearing power armor jumping out of the vertibirds and heading for the entrance.

"Who are they?" Sandra whispered dreadfully.

"I've never seen soldiers like that before." Mr. Burke responded. "Their armor is different from the Brotherhood of Steel's."

"Oh shit." Charon exhaled.

"What is it?" Sandra asked him.

"Mistress..." He sighed. "That would be the Enclave."

"The Enclave? Like, from the Enclave radio station?" Sandra said. "So they're the government?"

"Well... I'm afraid I'm not well educated on the Enclave, apart from what I've heard on the radio." Mr. Burke said. "But if they are the government, then perhaps we needn't worry about their arrival too much. Perhaps they have a legitimate reason for being here. Forgive me, I'm trying optimism on for size..."

Charon's eyes fixated on the parked vertibirds up above.

 _No,_ he thought intensely. _I remember the Enclave. I remember everything they've done. They're fucking evil._

"We need to get back to your father, Mistress." Charon said darkly. "He's in danger."

Sandra gulped, unholstered her gun, and jogged towards the exit. Charon and the others trailed behind her as they left the pipes.

"Oh FUCK-"

Lasers fired off immediately; Enclave soldiers flooded through the inside of the memorial, and they tried to shoot Sandra on sight. But Sandra had grown a little more agile ever since her vault departure. She managed to duck and dart away from the searing shots of lasers and hide behind one of the massive pillars, her friends all doing the same.

"Get!" Charon appeared beside her and shooed her away. "Go! Go get your father. I'll deal with them."

"I can't leave you guys alone!" Sandra protested.

"We'll be fine." Mr. Burke, who was crouched behind a nearby pillar alongside Bryan, pulled a submachine gun out from underneath the side of his suit. "Go on."

"Go!" Bryan yelled, holding up his gun as well. "Don't let your papa get hurt!"

Sandra gave them all a last pleading look, then turned and dashed towards the doorway leading to the purifier. She was able to hear the fire fight ensue behind her, and she didn't dare look back.

 _Please be alright,_ she thought frantically. _Dad, Charon, Bryan, Mr. Burke, Thrash... please be alright... please, please, please..._

When she burst into the room, the purifier was sealed off from the rest of the room, and the only scientist standing on the outside of it was Doctor Li. James was standing inside of the concealed area, along with a couple of his scientists and a few uniformed people that Sandra didn't recognize, though she assumed that they must have been the leaders of the Enclave invasion force that had breached the Jefferson Memorial.

The man in charge was exchanging conversation with James. Sandra wasn't able to hear them completely.

Then, the leader of the Enclave shot one of her father's assistants, killing her stone dead. He threatened James, effectively forcing him to the console and ordering him to proceed more quickly. The Enclave wanted control over the purifier. That must have been it...

 _Don't touch my father,_ Sandra thought furiously, pressing her face against the glass. _Don't fucking touch my father, you bastard..._

A small explosion occurred at the console inside.

The sealed off section of the purifier quickly became flooded with radiation; the Enclave leader and his two armed followers, as well as James himself, began to collapse as the radiation ate at them at a frighteningly rapid rate.

James leaned against the glass, parallel with his daughter and staring into her eyes.

"Run." He stated hoarsely, making a weak pointing motion towards the door. "Run. Run!"

James' head hit the glass. He slumped over and collapsed onto the metal floor.

Sandra had no idea when the tears started flowing; she reached for the lever that would open the door, but Doctor Li smacked her hand away.

It was as if some divine force had taken total control of Sandra now; somehow, through her crying, she was barking orders at the scientists and reloading her revolver on the way. The wanderer led the scientists outside, even with every fiber of her being screaming at her, pleading for her not to leave her father behind - but her father was gone for good now. There was nothing any of them could do for him anymore.

Charon and her other companions regrouped with her. Sandra didn't tell any of them why her face had become tear stained.

Sandra led the assault against the Enclave as Madison Li guided them through the underground tunnels, which would lead to the Brotherhood Citadel, which was, as of now, their only sanctuary of safety. Sandra was completely gone; she'd become almost unresponsive to Charon's voice, and hardly heard anything the scientists were saying. She was far too busy succumbing to her rage and slaughtering every Enclave soldier in her path without hesitation.

 _I won't rest until all of you fuckers die._


	22. Revelations

"MISTRESS!"

Something clicked.

Sandra stopped immediately; suddenly, she was no longer leading the scientists through the sewer tunnels, no longer shooting down Enclave soldiers and tossing plasma grenades almost carelessly towards clusters of the enemies, and no longer rampaging through the power armored goons who had killed her father...

Now, Sandra stood outside of the Brotherhood's Citadel. She'd almost opened fire on the Brotherhood guards when she spotted the power armor, but Charon snapped her back into reality before she could make that dastardly mistake. Charon stood in front of her, grasping her arms and glaring into her face, and a searing pain became noticeable on her left side. A laser had burned through her outfit, leaving a nasty smoldering wound on her left hip. Sandra hadn't even noticed her injuries until Charon managed to capture her attention.

"Lyons!" Masidon Li hollered almost hysterically into the intercom on the outside of the Citadel. "Lyons, I know you're in there! We need shelter - OPEN THIS GODDAMN DOOR RIGHT NOW!"

In response to Li's frantic voice, the gigantic metal door began to rise at once, allowing everyone to enter the Citadel.

Sandra didn't follow the scientists inside right away. Charon, Mr. Burke, Bryan, and Thrash stood around her outside of the massive structure and waited for her to respond to their expectant stares.

Apparently, she had raised her revolver and aimed at one of the Brotherhood guards. Alarmed by her actions, Sandra holstered her gun and attempted to regain some levelheadedness.

"I'm fine." Sandra breathed. "I'm fine. I'm fine..."

"You lost your goddamn mind back there. Tell me what happened." Charon ordered. "Where is your father?"

Sandra looked down at Charon's feet.

The silence said it all; James didn't make it out alive.

"You're wounded." Charon said. "Inside. Now."

Without waiting for a response, Charon dragged Sandra into the Citadel, where Elder Lyons stood side-by-side with someone Sandra vaguely recognized. Sarah Lyons was beside her father as the elder talked with Doctor Li, trying to determine what had happened and failing at calming the shaken scientist.

Sandra tried to stop and join in the conversation, but Charon and Mr. Burke both took hold of either of her arms and escorted her down the long walkway and into the enormous building. They found the clinic and forced Sandra to lie on one of the hospital beds before she could argue. Sandra stole a few perceptive glimpses of her friends as the doctor began treating her injury; none of them seemed to be hurt. That was good, at least.

"I suppose this erases any doubt about the Enclave's existence." Mr. Burke said. "Many people suspected that they simply weren't present in the Capitol. We've only ever heard the president's voice, after all. No one's actually _seen_ him with their own eyes. The only Enclave presence in the Capitol are the little robots floating around..."

Charon didn't reply to him. His milky blue eyes were focused on Sandra.

"We need a GECK." Sandra hopped off of the bed with her burn only partially wrapped, pushing the doctor away and heading for the door.

By the time she got down the stairs, her companions had caught up to her, and she went after Elder Lyons and one of the scribes, who were talking about the new Enclave threat that had emerged.

"They want the purifier, but it won't work for them. We can take it back if we find a GECK. We can make it work." Sandra told them.

"A GECK? Well, that's not exactly easy to come by. Some people doubt that such a thing even exists." Elder Lyons replied.

"They do exist. My dad found proof." Sandra said straightly. "We just need to find one."

"I am aware of a vault that may contain a GECK." The scribe broke in. "But it's highly irradiated. You'd be unlikely to survive in trying to retrieve it."

"I just need to know where it is, and I'll figure out the rest. Tell me." Sandra commanded in a hardened voice that didn't belong to her.

"Well... it's in Vault 87. I can mark it on your Pip-Boy." The scribe said, taking a quick look at the vaultie's injury before fiddling with the device on her arm. "There we go. You should be able to access it if you enter from the back, perhaps from Little Lamplight."

"Mistress, calm the fuck down." Charon interrupted. "You're talking about going into a cesspool of radiation for something that probably doesn't even exist."

"It DOES exist!" Sandra yelled. "And I'm gonna find it!"

Elder Lyons and the scribe exchanged glances.

Charon sighed at his Mistress irritably.

"You think my dad died for nothing? You think I'm gonna let the Enclave get away with that? HELL NO!" Sandra ranted.

"Mistress, you have a hole in your side. It's not wise to-"

"I don't care! I'm not sitting around while the Enclave steals my dad's life work away!"

"So you plan to dive head first into a radioactive pit, right? Is that it?"

"Charon, you're immune to radiation. If the place is irradiated, then _you_ can grab the GECK for me. Can't you?"

"No, I can't. My contract states that I am to assist you in combat situations, Mistress. I'm not your errand boy."

"What?!"

"You heard me. I'm not playing servant anymore. You're being a reckless fucking idiot, and I'm not playing along anymore. Got it?"

"FUCK YOU!"

Sandra thrusted her arms into Charon's chest and shoved him backwards.

Charon's mouth fell open, but before he could respond, Sandra said something that he never thought he'd hear from her.

"You're fired!" Sandra said, choking on a sob.

Charon gaped at her.

"You heard me!" Sandra continued. "Get lost! You don't wanna play along? You don't wanna help me? You don't give a shit about being friends? All you care about is your stupid-fucking-CONTRACT-" She pulled out a very old rolled up paper from her satchel, which happened to be Charon's contract, and began ripping it into tiny pieces and letting them scatter onto the floor. "Then WHO NEEDS YOU! GO! YOU'RE FREE! GO LIVE YOUR LONELY FUCKING LIFE! BYE!"

Elder Lyons, the scribe, Mr. Burke, and Bryan all looked flabbergasted.

Charon wasn't able to react. He never thought that Sandra would fire him. This was the last thing he expected to happen.

Sandra looked at Mr. Burke.

"Go to my house in Megaton. You're free to stay there." She told him. "Take Bryan and Thrash with you. Look after each other."

"You're going it alone?" Mr. Burke asked, and if Sandra was in her right mind, she might've noticed the underlying concern in his tone. "You can't. You can't possibly..."

"I'll be fine alone." Sandra grumbled as she stormed passed Charon and headed for the stairs. "Goodbye."

On her way out, Sandra didn't look back at any of her friends. This very well could have been the last time she would see Charon, but right now, she couldn't allow herself to care. No, she would have to ignore the endless stream of tears running down her cheeks, and her feelings of guilt and loneliness that silently screamed at her to turn back, to get her friends, and to keep her group together no matter what...

But that wasn't an option anymore.

Her father was a casualty of a situation that had escalated dramatically out of the blue. Her friends might meet a similar fate if they stayed with her.

Besides, Charon didn't care about her anyway. He'd made that perfectly clear.

Sandra marched out of the Citadel and vanished into the Capitol Wasteland by her lonesome. It was not at all the same as the day she left the vault; this time, facing the bleak and dangerous wasteland, she harbored no fear, no terror, and no doubt whatsoever about her ability to survive. Her wellbeing didn't matter.

Project Purity mattered.

Her father's work mattered.

Avenging his death mattered.


	23. I Am Alpha, And Omega

Days went by.

Sandra made her journey to Little Lamplight with no real trouble, apart from dodging the occasional slaver or supermutant, or simply killing them. Her skills with a gun had improved drastically since her departure from the vault. Charon, Mr. Burke, Bryan, and Thrash refused to leave her mind through her travels; as she walked, she could have sworn she could hear their voices behind her, but whenever she'd turn around, they were nowhere to be seen. It was better this way, even though it felt like a hole had been drilled into her heart, leaving a void that absolutely nothing could fill. Not to mention, Sandra had finally found her father, and she let him die at the hands of the tyrannical Enclave...

 _Never again,_ she vowed. _I'll kill them all._

Mr. Burke, Bryan, and Thrash lived quietly in Megaton while Charon stayed in the Ninth Circle most of the time. None of them had anything to do that didn't involve one of Sandra's bizarre adventures. Life seemed emptier than usual for them, especially Charon, who spent his days sleeping through his nightmares and wasted his nights ingesting enough alcohol to kill a deathclaw. It shouldn't have bothered him so much. He never honestly _cared_ about any of his employers before. This was completely different somehow, though...

He still wouldn't have his feelings sorted out when Sandra, many miles away, would reach Vault 87.

Sandra ignored the children of Little Lamplight and strolled through their home as if she owned the place. It didn't take long to find and enter the vault, but she didn't expect to be intercepted by a raspy, deep voice from one of the intercoms. A supermutant was trapped inside of one of the rooms, but he was different than the others. This one seemed civil.

"I know why you're here, and I can help you get the GECK." The mutant told her through the intercom. "If... if you just let me out of here."

"The other mutants locked you up?" Sandra asked. This vault had a mutant problem, but she'd been using up a lot of her ammunition murdering them as she ventured deeper and deeper into the vault. They were hardly a challenge to her anymore.

"They did... they're mindless, my brothers, they... they don't see the world the way I do." The mutant told her.

"Weird, how they consider you the outcast because you actually have the ability to reason." Sandra said. "I'll let you out."

Sandra unlocked the door, then came face to face with a towering mutant wielding a sledgehammer.

"Freedom! FREEDOM! Oh, how I pictured this moment - and it's much better than I ever imagined!" The mutant exclaimed. "My name is Fawkes. It's a pleasure to meet you, human. Now... for my end of the deal. Follow me."

Fawkes led Sandra further into the vault, making quick work of his supermutant brothers. Fawkes was a damn good fighter, it seemed.

 _I expected him to betray me,_ Sandra thought as she watched Fawkes. _I'm glad he's loyal._

Fawkes held up one of his big hands, gesturing for her to stay put, and he traveled into the highly irradiated portion of the vault. He returned minutes later carrying a small rectangular device, containing what Sandra guessed must have been the GECK.

"Thanks a lot." Sandra smiled, taking the GECK from him. "Wanna come with me? We can watch each other's backs out in the wastes."

"Oh no, I don't think the places you frequent would welcome someone of my kind." Fawkes replied. "Farewell, human. I will remember you, always."

Sandra turned and walked off. _That's alright. I'm supposed to be going it alone, anyway. I can't keep making friends that I'm just gonna lose later on._

Her walk was silent for about ten minutes. When she was halfway through the vault, a stun grenade dropped at her feet from seemingly nowhere; Sandra fell to the ground, her consciousness abandoning her... the last thing she saw was the aging face of Colonial Autumns... a southern voice... a few Enclave soldiers... _bastards... I'll kill you all... kill you all..._

* * *

Sandra blinked herself awake hours later.

Her wrists were shut tightly in a couple of metal clamps, and she stood in an empty, metal room, with Colonial Autumns standing opposite her, his arms folded behind his back and his face very inquisitive.

"The password for the purifier, if you please." He said. "I ain't in the mood to argue or play games. Just tell me what I need to know, kiddo."

Before Sandra could reply, another voice entered the room from the speakers overhead.

"Treat our guest with more respect, please." The voice of the president ordered. "Send her to me. I'd like to talk to her directly."

"But, Mr. President..."

"My orders are clear. Send her to me, Colonial Autumns."

Autumns begrudgingly unclicked Sandra's restraints, allowing her to move freely. He stepped out of the room without saying a word.

Sandra, feeling incredibly uneasy about being in the middle of the Enclave's home base, slowly began to make her way through the bunker. The sight of their power armor sent a wave of anger through her body. These were the people who killed her father... she didn't want to be here, talking to them, being civil with them... she wanted them dead... all dead...

The president's quarters wasn't at all what she'd expected. It was a huge, infinite room, containing a gigantic computer tower that had a spiraling staircase leading up to it. It took forever for Sandra to climb all of the stairs.

"This explains why I've never seen your face." Sandra said to the computer monitor. "Mr. President. Before you say anything - I want you to know, your government has done nothing but hurt the outside world. You're stealing the purified water from the people outside. You're stomping on everyone and not lifting a fucking finger to help the starving and the homeless. And to beat it all, you killed the only person on the planet who even _tried_ to help them. My father. Now, why the fuck should I listen to anything you have to say? Huh?"

"You're in no position to bargain, young lady."

"I'm not bargaining. I'm telling you straight up; I'm gonna kill you all."

"Now, listen here..."

"The Enclave is finished. It's nothing but a corrupt conclave of tyrants."

"We are the last remaining hope for humanity."

"Like I said, you haven't helped anyone. All you've done is leave them out there to die, and kill off the only person who could have helped them."

The president went silent for a few long minutes.

"You're free to leave." The computer told her. The GECK slid out of one of the slots on the console. "Very well. The Enclave is... finished."

Sandra, after grabbing the GECK, faintly heard a few explosions erupt somewhere else in the bunker.

 _Holy shit,_ she thought. _He's detonating the place?! I have to get outta here!_

Sandra spun around and darted out of the place, narrowly dodging the Enclave soldiers and the robots, who were all fighting each other as the bunker came apart around them. The president had instructed the robots to defend her, it appeared. This was a turn of events. She didn't expect the president to take her side, but she wouldn't complain.

Sandra pushed open the exit and stumbled into the sunlight just in time; the entire place succumbed to a series of explosions, and the vertibird that had tried to land on the mountain top was destroyed as well. A familiar mutant with a gatling laser was advancing towards Sandra, after having killed all of the Enclave soldiers outside.

"I saw your predicament, and I came to help!" Fawkes told her.

"You got a new toy!" Sandra laughed. "Come on, let's get the hell outta here!"

Lost in the moment, Sandra trekked off with Fawkes. After a while of walking, however, she remembered that she'd decided to travel alone so not to endanger anyone else, so she instructed Fawkes to go to her home in Megaton and stay put. Sandra would love to see the look on Mr. Burke's face when a supermutant comes knocking on the door... that'll be priceless...

Charon's face flashed through her mind again.

Sandra's smile faded.

It didn't matter how Mr. Burke would react to Fawkes, or how Bryan was getting by having to feed Thrash all by himself.

Nothing mattered, because her best friend was no longer a part of her life.

Sandra's trip to the Citadel was the same as her journey to the vault; quiet, lonely, and dreary.

With the help of the Brotherhood, they would win back Project Purity from what remained of the Enclave.

Sandra had succeeded in eliminating the president, and now, she had to kill the rest of them.

Her friendship didn't matter; it'd never really mattered to Charon, so who should it matter to her?

Securing Project Purity was the only thing that mattered anymore.

That, and exterminating the rest of the Enclave from the face of the planet.


	24. The Beginning, And The End

Sandra made a few pit stops before the final war for Project Purity.

The wanderer stopped at Megaton and began stocking up on supplies and picking up a few things from her house. Mr. Burke and Fawkes were both inside listening to Three Dog on the radio. They perked up when Sandra walked through the door.

"I love you guys." Sandra told them before they could speak. "If I don't come back... take good care of Megaton for me. And don't blow it up."

"Where are you going?" Mr. Burke asked. "You're talking like you're about to do something that'll get you killed."

"Do you need help, friend?" Fawkes asked her. "Let us help you!"

"Hey!" Bryan stormed down the stairs and glared at Sandra. "You told me you were gonna stick around for me! You told me this was my home! And now you're just gonna run off and die?! You're just leaving us high and dry?! We've had each other's backs since we met! You're like a big sister to me! Don't go!"

Bryan wrapped his arms around Sandra's waist and clung onto her.

Sandra's expression was unusually void of emotion, despite the intense feelings whirling around inside of her.

Fawkes stood towering over all of them in the middle of the living room, his head brushing the ceiling and his large mouth hanging open. The mutant looked very displeased with Sandra's plans. And Mr. Burke, who was directly in front of her, appeared more conflicted than Sandra had ever seen him.

"Listen to the boy." Mr. Burke said weakly. "Don't go."

"I have to." Sandra said forcefully. "This is the beginning of something huge. We could give water to everyone in the wasteland. We could save everyone. This is what my dad wanted, and I'm gonna make it happen... even if it means I die somewhere along the lines. I'm sorry. I'll try really hard not to die, okay?"

Sandra pulled Mr. Burke closer. He and Bryan stayed locked in a group hug for a few seconds before Fawkes trapped them all in his massive arms, hugging them all at once.

Sandra was sure to fix up her modified adventurer outfit, the one Charon had reinforced for her, before venturing to her room and locating one of her favorite weapons of all time. It was something she was saving for an emergency - and now was the time to use it. She lifted the Fat Man and carried it on her shoulder, stuffing her satchel full of as many mini nukes as it could carry. When she walked out the door, her friends were all still watching her pleadingly, but Sandra marched away and kicked the door shut behind her. This needed to happen. Sandra needed to win Project Purity, no matter what.

This was what the travels were for.

This was why she pursued her father - so that she could finish his monumental work and save countless lives in doing so.

Sandra marched up the metal ramp and entered Gob's saloon. She wanted to visit him again before she would leave town, possibly for the very last time. So, she set the Fat Man against the wall where Mr. Burke was sitting the first day she met him, then claimed a seat at the bar.

"You look pumped." Gob said, approaching her and cleaning out a glass with a rag. "You off to another adventure, or what?"

"Here." Sandra pulled out a moderately sized burlap bag from her satchel and placed it on the counter. It made a lot of jangling noises. "I never properly thanked you for being nice to me the day we met. I wouldn't have gotten this far without your kindness, Gob. You deserve this."

Gob squinted at her curiously, just before lifting the bag and squishing it with his fingers.

"These are caps." He said. "Why're you giving me so much money? I can't take this."

"Please. Those are my savings." Sandra replied. "I was saving them for Charon... I used to pay him... but he's gone. I want you to have them."

Gob gave her a long, studying stare.

"You're not about to do something stupid, are you?" He asked. "What happened? What's up?"

"Goodbye, Gob." Sandra stood and yanked him partly over the counter, smothering him in a hug.

Then, she turned, retrieved her Fat Man, and walked out of the saloon.

Gob watched her all the way. Sandra left a certain tension in the air of the saloon when she left. Gob knew that something was very wrong, that something huge was about to happen, but he had no clue what it was. So, he turned on Galaxy News Radio and listened worriedly while Three Dog spoke of an oncoming war between the Brotherhood and the Enclave for Project Purity. He was sure that Sandra was involved in this somehow.

"Where did she get a Fat Man, anyway?" Gob grumbled to himself, leaning on the counter and gazing into the radio. "Ugh... this can't be good."

About an hour went by. While Sandra was making the journey back to the Citadel, storm clouds gathered outside, and many others began making their own preparations for the war to come. Mr. Burke and Bryan entered the saloon after a while, but they looked different than usual; Bryan had a lot of small handguns dangling from his belt, and he wore a small fitted outfit of leather armor, while Mr. Burke seemed to be carrying a lot of rifles on his back as well as a bulletproof vest underneath his suit.

Gob stared at them.

"Do you have any chems, my good man?" Mr. Burke asked with a sly smirk. "We're off to fight a war, and I think I'll need a boost. I haven't done this in years."

* * *

The morning had faded into an early afternoon by the time Sandra reached the Citadel.

Sarah Lyons and the Lyons Pride were gathered in a large group inside, standing in front of the shadow of what appeared to be a gigantic humanoid robot. After Sarah finished giving orders to all of her men, she turned to Sandra.

"I've talked it over with my father." Sarah said. "After everything you've done... I think we're ready to consider you an honorary member of the Lyon's Pride. That's not a title we hand out to just anyone. You're something special. Now, we're about to move out and work our way to Project Purity. I have Recon Armor to spare, if you'd like some extra reinforcement."

"No thanks. I wanna stay in my armor." Sandra stroked the shoulder of her adventurer outfit, remembering when Charon had stitched on the armored parts. "I appreciate it, though."

 _I miss you,_ Sandra thought sadly, taking the walkie-talkie off of her belt and staring at it. _I hope you're having a good life, Charon._

It was one of the walkie-talkies that she and Charon used to use to communicate during emergencies, or whenever they would get separated. Sandra had been tempted to try using it the last few days, especially during the nights, when she'd find herself a place to sleep all by her lonesome, with no friends to talk to, nobody to keep warm with at a campfire, and nobody to watch her back if she overslept. But Charon deserved his freedom. It wasn't fair of her to force him into a friendship that he didn't want...

Elder Lyons and one of the scribes were arguing about the use of the giant humanoid robot, Liberty Prime, and afterwards, Sarah got into a spat with her father about taking the front lines in the assault. Liberty Prime began to ascend into the enormous opening overhead, and Sarah led her men up the stairs and out of the Citadel. Sandra followed them.

One of Liberty Prime's monstrous legs tore off a chunk of the Citadel's protective wall when it was lifted out of the Citadel and placed at the beginning of the bridge outside. Brotherhood soldiers and independents swarmed the bridge and entered the city in clusters of firing squads; Liberty Prime spoke in a bellowing, robotic voice as he marched over the bridge with his giant footsteps. The Enclave soldiers didn't stand a chance. Liberty Prime made short work of them, stepping on some of them like bugs while the Brotherhood assault eliminated the rest. As the force pressed on, more and more Enclave emerged within Sandra's sight; she would have to fight soon. This was it.

* * *

Gob hardly payed any attention to his customers. He remained occupied by Three Dog on the radio and listened anxiously for updates on the lone wanderer he always talked about - the one he had befriended. Sandra had been acting strangely, and her rushing off with a Fat Man without telling him anything didn't put his mind at ease, not to mention selling almost all of his chems to Mr. Burke. Hopefully, her friends would catch up to her before she could get hurt...

As he leaned on the counter with his cheek resting in his palm, gazing thoughtfully into the radio, he didn't notice a familiar figure breeze through the saloon door.

A tall ghoul in leather armor approached the counter. He tapped the countertop twice in order to grasp Gob's attention.

When Gob looked up, he came face to face with Charon, who looked even more intense than he usually did.

Gob practically read all of the questions off of Charon's face.

"She went off to fight some war for the purifier." He told Charon. "The war Three Dog's been talking about on the radio... I think Sandra's a part of it. She left without her friends. Burke and the kid followed her, I think. They were both armed to the teeth. Three Dog's been saying that Brotherhood and Enclave have been fighting it out all day. If Sandra's getting involved, she'll be in the middle of the fight somewhere between the Citadel and the Jefferson Memorial."

Charon nodded and headed for the door.

"Hold on." Gob called after him. "Burke told me that her dad died. She ain't thinking straight. If she won't come back, just drag her ass back by force if you have to."

Charon gave him another nod, then pushed the door open and departed the saloon.

He'd have to travel at top speed to reach the city in time.


	25. Salvation

The end began.

Her father's voice rang in the back of her head as Sandra pressed forward alongside the Lyon's Pride.

 _Here we are. Where it all began. You remember your mother's favorite passage? Revelation 21:6. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life, freely. Don't you see? This is what it all means._

"I do see." Sandra muttered. "I understand now, Dad."

 _The water, the purifier. THIS is the water of life. Your mother's dream. No point in wasting time. Let's get to work. There's much to be done._

"And I'm doing it now." Sandra gritted her teeth, raised her revolver, and headed towards the front of the group. "I'll finish your work. I swear."

Liberty Prime's booming voice thundered the concrete beneath everyone's feet, even more than his harsh footsteps. Watching the Enclave soldiers fall like dominoes was far too pleasing. When members of the Lyons Pride began to fall, however, Sandra's anger hit its boiling point - and she lost herself once again.

Feeling rushed, Sandra rifled through her satchel and found her medical bag. She then injected herself with Psycho, Jet, and Med-x, then continued forward, holstering her gun and placing one of her mininukes in the Fat Man on her shoulder. Making sure none of the Brotherhood members were in the way, she fired it off; the mininuke ascended through the air. They'd crossed the bridge at this point, and now, the Enclave opposition was down a long hill. The mininuke soared down the hill and erupted in a magnificent explosion of fire and radiation.

Sandra laughed at the sight of the Enclave bodies and limbs flying into the air.

It was beautiful.

The chems hit her all at once; suddenly, she felt invincible.

Her blood seemed to ignite like a stream of gasoline. Everything in her sight illuminated a shade of bright blue. It reminded her of the effects of Nukacola Quantums.

She tried to ignore her father's voice as she kept on with the battle. It was almost as if he was whispering in her ear while she fought.

 _I've heard about some things you've been doing in the wasteland. I heard you disarmed the bomb in Megaton. Is that true? Oh, your mother would be so proud of you..._

Sandra felt the overwhelming urge to see the Enclave explode in a nuclear blast again. She began reloading the Fat Man as she jogged to keep up with her Brotherhood allies.

 _I never wanted a life like this for you. A life in this radioactive, godforsaken hellhole..._

Without warning her allies, Sandra fired off a second mininuke. The range of the blast shouldn't harm any of the Brotherhood. There was nothing to worry about.

Another great blast occurred just a rock's throw away from Liberty Prime's gigantic metal feet. More Enclave soldiers were ripped apart.

Sandra didn't realize that she was exhaling a series of breathless, maniacal laughs as the battle raged on.

 _Revelation 21:6. I am alpha, and omega... the beginning, and the end..._

"Shut up, Dad." Sandra said to no one. "I'm busy."

The Enclave had set up an electrical force field with two enormous poles on either side of the final bridge. Liberty Prime grasped them and began to destroy them, but the robot couldn't handle the electroshock; it seized up and hunched over, ceasing to function any longer. At the very least, Liberty Prime had managed to destroy all of the force fields and shoot down the vertibirds before breaking down. That was more than enough.

Sandra and the Brotherhood started to cross the final bridge. The Jefferson Memorial - the purifier - was within their sights.

Just when Sandra was sure that the purifier was won, another wave of Enclave appeared on the opposite end of the bridge.

The laser fire was rapid, and it came from almost every direction.

Sandra wasn't sure how many times she was hit; she hit her knees and reached for her gun-

Gunshots broke through the sound barrier. Not lasers, not plasma guns... ordinary gunshots...

A small yao guai shot passed Sandra and headed towards the enemies, baring its teeth and snarling as it did.

 _Thrash?_

"Watch out!" Bryan's voice echoed from somewhere from behind.

A grenade whirled over Sandra's head and landed in a small cluster of Enclave. The solders were blown away; many of them stopped advancing.

Bryan appeared by Sandra's side and began firing at the opposition.

"Up we go, my dear." Mr. Burke grasped Sandra by the hand and pulled her to her feet, yanking her backwards and out of the immediate range of fire. "Are you alright? You're burned all over."

"I'm fine." Sandra replied, ignoring the searing pain on what little of her skin was exposed. "What're you doing here?! Why'd you follow me?!"

"Hm. I wonder." Mr. Burke looked her up and down. He examined every one of her injuries.

Fawkes the supermutant was a few yards away behind Mr. Burke, marching forward steadily and unleashing lasers from his gatling gun like hellfire.

"Just... just be careful, and don't get killed out here!" Sandra ordered her friends before running ahead, pistol drawn and adrenaline still pumping.

"Tch. Hypocrite." Mr. Burke smirked. "Whatever you say, my dear."

Mr. Burke, Bryan, and Fawkes all joined the Lyons Pride; together, they effectively mowed down what remained of the Enclave outside.

Sandra could have sworn she'd heard a familiar sound somewhere amidst the gunfire - the sound of a combat shotgun - but when she looked around, she noticed that Mr. Burke was using a hunting rifle, while Bryan had his revolver. Nobody was carrying a shotgun. Perhaps she was just having flashbacks... Charon's gun, exploding at the muzzle and making that little _'clink'_ noise every time it fired... she missed it...

Sandra rushed up to the door of the Memorial.

"Stay out here." She told her friends. "Make sure no more Enclave come inside after us. Okay?"

Mr. Burke, Bryan, and Fawkes all nodded.

"Thanks." Sandra said, smiling at them. "I love you guys. Now stay put, and don't die!"

At that, Sandra opened the door and entered the Jefferson Memorial, followed by Sarah Lyons and her men.

At the rear of the building, the ringing of the combat shotgun had stopped. Charon finished killing everyone who'd been guarding the back entrances. He made his way around the Memorial and spotted Burke, Bryan, and Fawkes standing outside of the entrance.

 _Fucking idiots,_ Charon thought grumpily. _She's still gonna get herself killed if you let her go inside alone, Burke. You should know that by now._

Inside, there were far less Enclave soldiers for the Brotherhood to kill; most of the inside inhabitants were simply scientists. Sandra let them be. They weren't a threat, so there was no reason to kill them. When she saw Colonial Autumns standing at the purifier, however, Sandra opened fire at once. The Colonial hit the floor lifelessly before he had a chance to mutter a word.

Sarah Lyons moseyed up the stairs, and a voice spoke from the intercom near the purifier's entrance.

"You need to get in there and shut the thing off - the system's going critical. The entire thing is gonna blow if you don't shut it off now!" Doctor Li's voice yelled from the speaker. "The entire thing is still flooded with radiation. You've got to shut it off!"

Sarah's victorious smile faded away.

"Well... so much for celebrating." She said, turning to Sandra. "One of us has to go inside and shut it off... and whoever does isn't coming out alive."

Sandra, who had been examining a very severe burn on her wrist, looked particularly grim.

"My friends are outside." Sandra said. "Tell Mr. Burke to assume the role of Megaton's mayor. I think he's witty and cunning enough to fend off trouble for them, and Fawkes can be the town's own bodyguard. Bryan can stay with his aunt, or he can take my place in the Lyon's Pride, if he still wants to learn how to fight."

"What're you talking about?" Sarah asked.

"I'm telling you what to do with my friends. This is my dying wish." Sandra replied seriously. "I'll switch the purifier off, but you have to promise to deliver the message to my friends. Alright? And there's one more. One more... his name is Charon. He'll probably be somewhere in Underworld, where the ghouls live. He's taller than most people, with reddish skin, and a constant scowl on his face... always wearing leather armor... always carrying a shotgun... and I need you to find him, and tell him I'm sorry for sending him away. Tell him that he can live in my house, and he can have any of my stuff that he wants, and he... and..."

Sandra's eyes became watery. It was growing more and more difficult not to cry with every word she spoke.

"Tell him I love him." Sandra finally said. "Tell him he's my best friend, and I love him."

Sarah had a painful expression on her face. She wrapped her armored arms around Sandra and embraced her in a long, close hug.

Then, Sandra broke away from her and marched towards the entrance to the purifier.

Her wrist hurt so much, she couldn't bear it; even the slightest movement made the skin feel like it was going to tear off. Her ankle and her side were both hurting quite a lot too, which meant that she had a lot more injuries than she'd previously thought. But, it wouldn't matter for much longer. In a few minutes, Sandra wouldn't feel a thing.

Someone grabbed her uninjured wrist, halting her in her step.

Sandra spun around and met eyes with her leather armored bodyguard.

Charon, who stood a couple of steps lower than her, was glaring up at her with a heated leer.

"Revelation 21:6." He said with his ghoulish voice, though it sounded softer than usual.

Sandra's heart could have stopped.

Nothing could make her last moments more precious than this, feeling that familiar tight grasp on her wrist, staring into that grumpy face of his...

The tears escaped her eyes. She couldn't possibly hold it in anymore.

"I don't recall this being part of the plan." Charon said. "You willingly fucking killing yourself, I mean. Mistress."

Sarah stood behind Charon with her arms folded, a faint grin forming on her face as she watched.

"H... how much did..." Sandra sputtered. "How much... did you hear...?"

"Everything." Charon replied.

Then, something outstanding occurred.

Charon smiled.

It was a true, genuine smile. Sandra didn't think Charon was capable of such an expression.

His large hands cupped her cheeks, and he pressed his dry lips into her forehead, giving it a soft, tender kiss.

"I love you too, kid." Charon said. "Now stay here. Let me put in the code. Radiation won't do shit to me. Mistress... Sandra... just stay back, alright? I'll be right back."

Charon stepped past Sandra and approached the glass.

This was surreal; Sandra never imagined that Charon would follow her across the wasteland to save her. And not only that, but he actually admitted that he cared about her... he used the word l _ove,_ too... amazing... it was amazing... _he_ was amazing...

Charon walked into the purifier. The glass door closed behind him, sealing him off from Sandra and Sarah.

He punched in the code, 2,1,6, then crossed his arms and waited for the machine to power down.

Sandra pressed her face against the glass and watched him from the outside.

Something happened that none of them could have prepared for.

The machine on the inside exploded with a deafening boom.

Charon was flown backwards, as were Sarah and Sandra. Charon's neck snapped the moment he slammed into the glass.

Everything went dark, and amidst the fire, the ringing, and the distant hollering of the Brotherhood members' voices, Sandra's senses ceased to work... her consciousness abandoned her, her eyes drifting shut, and she knew no more.

* * *

In retrospect, it really was a victory.

Sandra and the Brotherhood had secured Project Purity, and after the men repaired the machine best they could, they utilized the GECK and finally began distributing fresh water, which they named Aqua Pura. Sarah Lyons was lying comatose in a nearby hospital bed when Sandra finally came to, and Elder Lyons was the one to inform the lone wanderer of Charon's demise.

So, of course, it didn't _feel_ like a victory at all.

Nothing in the world mattered now, no matter how many people now had access to purified water, no matter how successful she'd been at enacting her revenge on the Enclave.

Charon sacrificed himself to save her.

And now, people were smiling at her, shaking her hand, and thanking her for being the legacy of the Capitol, the savior of thousands. Some people were even referring to her as the messiah of the wasteland, but Sandra didn't want to hear it. It was infuriating to think that those dumb, idiotic wastelanders were worshiping her now, when Charon was the one who'd made the real sacrifice. Charon was the reason that the wasteland was saved, not her. He had saved her life, saved the entire wasteland, but nobody even knew his name.

Charon was the legacy of the Capitol.

Not Sandra.

Everything seemed to run together. Time was on fast forward.

Elder Lyons was kind enough to put together a funeral for Charon.

Sandra wasn't sure how long she stood at the coffin and stared blankly into Charon's motionless corpse. Her cheeks were tear stained again, but she wasn't sobbing. Regardless of the all-consuming sadness in her, she simply didn't have the energy to sob, to scream, or to punch anyone out of anger, even though she very much wanted to.

Looking into everyone's faces made her sick.

Sandra never wanted to talk to another human being again for as long as she lived.

Maybe her father was right. Maybe she should have never left the vault.

It was all good fun for the longest time, running all over the wasteland and starting adventures wherever they went, making friends and enemies and saving each others lives on countless different occasions. And if not for Charon, Sandra most assuredly wouldn't have made it this far. That was a fact.

After the funeral, Elder Lyons began talking about rebooting Liberty Prime and sending another assault to take out the remnants of the Enclave. Sandra didn't want any part of it. She walked out of the Citadel without saying a word. Mr. Burke, Fawkes, and Thrash all followed her back to Megaton, and she didn't speak to any of them the entire way. Bryan stayed behind, after having expressed a lot of interest in joining the Brotherhood of Steel, intent on killing all of the Enclave soldiers left in the Capitol. He, like Sandra, wanted to avenge those lost. But Sandra didn't care anymore.

With Charon gone, nothing mattered.

Nothing at all.

"What are you doing?" Mr. Burke asked after they reached Sandra's Megaton home.

Sandra packed only her essential belongings, then headed for the door. That was when Mr. Burke blocked her path.

"You can't go out alone again." He told her. "Please..."

"I love you guys." Sandra gave him a weak, one-armed hug. "You and Fawkes look after this town."

Then, she shoved Mr. Burke aside and marched out of her home for the very last time.

When she left Megaton, she didn't bother looking back, nor did she skim over the map on her Pip-Boy. Usually, Charon would keep track of where they were going because Sandra would often forget to. But now, she'd just have to go wherever the wind would take her, and hope she didn't run into too much trouble along the way.

Sandra took a last gander at the Capitol wasteland from afar.

From the inside, it always looked adventurous, captivating, and even beautiful in some places.

From the outside, however, it appeared as bleak as ever. It was the end result of a senseless war, a war that had ended with many people dying meaningless deaths. There were probably plenty of unnamed heroes back then, too. People who had made a difference, people who did something wonderful for humanity, but because of the great war, because of their dying before their time, and because of someone else's greed or lust for power, they died before anyone could thank them.

Just like Charon.

The Enclave had started a war with the rest of humanity, and Charon fell victim to that war, much like the entire world fell victim to the great war two hundred years ago.

It just wasn't fair.

Sandra lost the two most important people in the world to her, all because of the pointless, horrible wars that were waged around her, by the Enclave, by the supermutants, by the raiders... and it never seemed to change, all throughout history... the new and creative methods of killing that always seemed to emerge, in every era, in every culture, combined with the completely unreasonable justification for waging their wars in the first place...

Sandra wandered into the unknown wasteland outside of the Capitol, mulling over her terrible thoughts as she did. Her father and Charon were gone forever, because of humanity's destructive nature, because of war...

 _And war never changes,_ Sandra knew. _So I guess I have to change instead._

* * *

 **The End**


End file.
